Marvel Studios Finally Unmasks The Taskmaster In Official New Photos

The very first concept art for Thunderbolts*, shown way back in September 2022 at Disney's D23 Expo, clearly depicted a six-member team: Yelena Belova, John Walker, Alexei Shostakov, Bucky Barnes, Ava Starr, and the MCU's controversial take on Taskmaster, Antonia Dreykov. But as Thunderbolts* drew nearer to its theatrical release, a puzzling trend emerged. Taskmaster was featured progressively less and less in the movie's marketing campaign. Fans became convinced that Antonia would become a casualty during Thunderbolts* runtime. Lo and behold, during one of the film's first major action sequences, Taskmaster was quickly shot in the head by Ava, after the Black Widow villain had only uttered a single line of dialogue.

Perhaps more insultingly, even though she removed her full helmet in Black Widow, the Thunderbolts* scene didn't even unmask Olga Kurylenko's character fully. Her skull-themed mask retracted long enough for Antonia to deliver her solitary line before immediately forming around her face again. And even more denigrating to the would-be Thunderbolt is that none of the movie's posters, trailers, TV spots, or promo art displayed Kurylenko's likeness. In fact, Marvel even edited certain previews in an attempt to trick viewers into buying into Taskmaster's survival. 

Even still, Antonia Dreykov, who was long used as nothing more than a blunt instrument by her own father in service of the Red Room, and who only won her freedom at the close of 2021's Black Widow, is now dead as far as the MCU is concerned. Antonia's murder was meant to illustrate to the team, and especially to Yelena, that if they stick to the path of death and destruction they've long been on, they will all end up just like her.

But although Taskmaster is gone, she'll live on in the form of recently revealed Thunderbolts* concept art from character designer Constantine Sekeris. The artist posted several views of the character to Instagram from a time when her look for Thunderbolts* was still being finalized. This includes many portraits of a completely unmasked Antonia Dreykov.

The first of the collection shows Taskmaster in her full bodysuit and armor but without her trademark hood or facemask. The brutal scarring on her face, likely incurred during her time as an agent of the Red Room, wraps around her facial features like the gnarled branches of a tree. She also looks to be considerably burned, clearly another on-the-job injury.

The next image is essentially the same as the first, just with some of the color scheme modified.

The third follows the same pattern, again with minor alterations in her uniform's coloring.

The fourth piece has Taskmaster wearing her full mask and it looks to be the final design that was reflected on screen in Thunderbolts*.

A full body representation of Taskmaster's entire costume was also in Sekeris' post. Seen strapped to her back is the shield she used in the movie. Curiously, Antonia's shield ricocheted off the walls despite very likely not being made of vibranium like Captain America's.

Sekeris' post then delved into earlier versions of Taskmaster's suit. This visualization is much sleeker and more streamlined, complete with a different mask which does not cover the whole face.

A closer look at that same covering was on the next slide. Perhaps the reason it was changed for the completed film was so it could retract.

Finally, a slick looking, all-black version of the costume was showcased. This variation looks perfectly served for a late night stealth mission.

Constantine Sekeris' caption on his Instagram post can be seen below:

"Posting some Taskmaster concepts from Thunderbolts/New Avengers did these when I was working at Marvel Vis Dev... In Vis dev we r tasked to concept many ideas thrown on the table from comic book accurate to realistic and ground to complicated and stylized looks and everything in between all that….these where done in the tone and aesthetic requested by the director and powers that b …..this was a fun and challenging character to concept on and had a blast working on this project with the whole team."

Could Taskmaster Return to the MCU in Some Form?

There's no denying that Taskmaster's run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was extremely compressed. She debuted in Black Widow as an adversary for Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff before moving on to appear in Thunderbolts* for less than five minutes. The MCU's Taskmaster shares some similarities with her comic book counterpart. They both have the ability to mimic the fighting movements of others through observation, they both wear skull-shaped masks, and they both employ a wide variety of weapons.

But in print, Taskmaster enjoys a much more significant role and possesses a number of differences from the MCU incarnation. In the realm of Marvel Comics, Taskmaster is a man called Tony Masters and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez for The Avengers #195 in 1980. Instead of serving as an operative for a clandestine government kill squad, Tony Masters is more of a mercenary, who often finds himself under contract for shady outfits such as A.I.M. and the Cabal. And much like his Marvel Universe brethren Spider-Man and Deadpool, Taskmaster's comic book dialogue is often chock full of quips and one-liners. A stark contrast to the total of two times Antonia Dreykov spoke in the MCU.

Some Marvel die-hards have theorized that the MCU could resurrect the Taskmaster mantle and pass it on to Tony Masters, effectively turning him into a legacy character. Considering the consensus among audiences who are familiar with Taskmaster in the comics is heightened dissatisfaction with the way the merc was adapted for the MCU, it could be a route that Marvel Studios attempts to pursue. However, at least for the time being, Taskmaster should no longer be counted among the living in live-action. 

Curiously enough, actor O-T Fagbenle auditioned for Taskmaster for Black Widow, but he was eventually cast as Nat's acquaintance and fence, Rick Mason, when the studio opted to head in another direction with the villain. It's impossible to know whether viewers would have had an easier time forming an attachment to a Taskmaster played by Fagbenle or if the character would have been dramatically different from the one who wound up in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*.