Thunderbolts: Why Taskmaster Got Killed, Explained by Marvel Director

Fans finally have some clarity on a controversial creative decision involving Taskmaster. Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier opened up in a recent interview about why killing off Taskmaster was necessary in order to add "tension" to a movie that otherwise would've "felt a little bloodless."

Prior to her Thunderbolts* return, Antonia Dreykov (played by Olga Kurylenko) was introduced in 2021's Black Widow (to which Thunderbolts* acts as a direct sequel) as a reimagined version of Taskmaster. The daughter of General Dreykov, Antonia was severely injured in an assassination attempt orchestrated by Natasha Romanoff. To save her life, Dreykov implanted a chip in her brain, stripping her of free will and turning her into the ultimate weapon of the Red Room. The chip granted her photographic reflexes, allowing her to mimic the fighting styles in the comics. Under her father's orders, Taskmaster pursued Yelena (Florence Pugh), leading to a combative reunion with Black Widow. After Dreykov's death and the destruction of the Red Room Academy, Antonia was exposed to the Red Dust, freeing her from mind control by the end of the film.

What Happened to Taskmaster In Thunderbolts

This article contains specific spoilers for the plot and post-credits scenes from Thunderbolts*.

Antonia's future in the MCU seemed uncertain until Marvel Studios confirmed her return in Thunderbolts* during San Diego Comic-Con 2022. While the announcement excited some fans, others remained divided over the character's live-action portrayal. Many criticized Black Widow for straying too far from the comic book version of Taskmaster, Tony Masters, and argued the character was wasted. As the marketing for Thunderbolts* picked up, it became clearer that Disney wasn't interested in making fans care about this version of the character.

Taskmaster meets her end during a confrontation in Thunderbolts* as part of a larger trap. The early mission is orchestrated by Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who secretly pits each operative against another: Yelena on Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Ghost on Taskmaster, Taskmaster on John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Walker on Yelena. 

Later, it is revealed that Val's goal is to have them eliminate each other to erase any loose ends and cover up her hidden OXE operations. Taskmaster's death comes about 20 minutes into the film and sets the expendable stakes. 

How Does Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster Die in Thunderbolts?

Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster dies during the secret compound scene when Ghost uses her phasing ability to gain the upper hand. As Taskmaster focuses on fighting John Walker, Ghost phases through her to catch her off guard. 

In that split second, she pulls out a gun and shoots Taskmaster point-blank in the head. The sudden, brutal move leaves her no chance to react, and just like that, the MCU Taskmaster is dead.

Why Taskmaster Died in Thunderbolts & Decision To Kill Her Off Revealed by Director

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier met with Phase Hero's Brandon Davis and was asked about Taskmaster's controversial death.

Schreier made it clear that the decision to kill her was rooted in raising the film's emotional stakes. Many MCU fans were surprised by how early and abruptly Olga Kurylenko's character was removed from the board, but Schreier revealed that this bold move was intentional, without a proper death: "Are you really giving [Thunderbolts*] the tension that it needs to function?"

"The movie just felt a little bloodless. It just felt like in a movie like this, like sure, it's not going to be R-rated, but if you're not taking anyone off the board, if you're not introducing that sense, then are you really giving it the tension that it needs to function? And so yeah, it's a sacrifice and a sad one… I didn't take any pleasure in doing it."

While Schreier acknowledged fan disappointment, he said Marvel Studios was behind the choice, emphasizing that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and executive producer Louis D'Esposito support bold storytelling, "They're not afraid."

"I think that one thing that's nice about working at Marvel and working with Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D'Esposito] is that they're not afraid and they don't feel… they're not afraid to take a leap and and do things if they think it's right for the movie."

The director also noted that this death may not have happened without the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes. He explained that they "were two weeks away from starting shooting" when they got shut down, and they didn't begin filming in Atlanta until a year after that.

He seemed to be grateful for that time "to take a step back, and really think about what you're making," leading to the decision to set the table with an early death:

"It’s something we felt coming out of the strike, because we were about to shoot, we were two weeks away from starting shooting, and the strike happened and we got shut down, and didn't get back to Atlanta for a year after that, and spent time in back in Los Angeles after the strike was over, redeveloping the story, and just something I think… It's a rare position to be in to have been that close to making something, and then getting to take a step back, and really think about what you're making."

One key factor in deciding when to kill Taskmaster was the timing within the film. Schreier said that although the creative team debated placing her death later in the movie, they realized "it felt like that would then hang over the kind of sadness of that moment would then hang over too much of the rest of the movie:"

"We discussed doing it later, but it felt like that would then hang over the kind of sadness of that moment would then hang over too much of the rest of the movie and distract you from what we really needed to be building."

He also highlighted how the mission setup (pitting contract killers against each other) helped show the morally gray nature of the Thunderbolts. The director also made a great point that "had Ghost not done that, Taskmaster would have done that to Walker:"

"And look, had Ghost not done that, Taskmaster would have done that to Walker, you know what I mean? They're all in this place where that's what they do. That's their job. These are contract kills. And so in a way, it's very sad. And on another level, we're kind of getting a viewpoint into like the place that all these characters have found themselves."

Schreier even pointed to a moment later in the film, when Yelena Belova reflects on Taskmaster's fate, as a small but meaningful way the story acknowledged her death and further solidified the Thunderbolts* connections to Black Widow:

"And as Yelena says later, which I think hopefully, in its own small way, shows that we do care about what happened, Ghost asks her about it and she says 'Yeah, she had a tough life. She killed a lot of people and then she got killed just like us someday.'"

Finally, Schreier emphasized that Kurylenko "was a real sport to show up and shoot that" scene as she only showed her face briefly. 

The director wanted to emphasize that her death isn't supposed to be "capricious" or "tossing anything out," but instead, it tries to "inform the rest of [their] theme and what happens with the rest of [their] characters:"

"And so I wouldn't say that it's capriccious and I wouldn't say that it's tossing anything out. I would say that as sad as it is to do that, it is also using a death to try to inform the rest of our theme and what happens with the rest of our characters. And Olga [Kurylenko] was a real sport to show up and shoot that with us, because it's not easy to do that in that circumstance."

What happens to the rest of the Thunderbolts? They get a major upgrade to the New Avengers, promoted by Louis-Dreyfus' Val.