Delayed due to the ongoing pandemic and now set to release in theaters on May 7, 2021, Black Widow would have been the first new content from Phase 4 of the MCU, but instead, that honor will belong to WandaVision. In the meantime, fans have been patiently waiting until the movie releases to find out who exactly is playing Taskmaster, the movie's villain.
As it stands, it seems a tad obvious, maybe too obvious, that O. T. Fagbenle will be playing him since audiences have seen neither hide nor hair of him in any of the trailers, not to mention Marvel Studios being keen on keeping him on board. Whoever is playing Taskmaster, from the trailer, fans have already noticed them copying various moves from The Avengers and other heroes like Captain America and Black Panther.
In the newly released book for the movie, the fight coordinator talks about how purposeful this was meant to read to audiences and even said what other heroes Taskmaster would copy in the movie, especially during the fight on the bridge teased in the trailer and concept art.
NEWS
In Marvel Studios' Black Widow: The Official Movie Special Book, the fight coordinator, James Young, explains Taskmaster's mimicry and how it translates into his fights, confirming several characters' fighting styles that Taskmaster will incorporate in his fights with Natasha Romanoff.
"Taskmaster has studied the Avengers; in the bridge fight you can see that. You see flashes of Captain America, you see flashes of Bucky, you see flashes of Iron Man, and you see Spider-Man in this sequence. How do you fight someone that can embody all the Avengers at once? The hard part of the fights is to make those moments read, but it's the moments you're going to remember."
WHAT THIS MEANS
Fans were able to clearly determine that Taskmaster was copying characters like Black Panther and Spider-Man, but it's cool to see it confirmed by the actual fight coordinator of Black Widow. Not to mention that it was blatantly intentional on their part to have "those moments read."
However, one surprise is Taskmaster copying moves from Iron Man, which could either mean mimicking Tony's technology or the rare hand-to-hand fighting moves he used in Captain America: Civil War. Once the movie finally releases, it will be very satisfying to see fans splice together clips from previous movies to see exactly which moves Taskmaster copies from various heroes.
