Black Widow villain Taskmaster: The backstory and powers of the new Marvel character revealed

Sophie Rainbow15 January 2020

A new trailer for Marvel Studios' Black Widow has just dropped, tantalising fans with a fresh addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – formidable new villain, Taskmaster.

Taskmaster makes his appearance towards the end of the clip, as Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow – real name Natasha Romanoff – struggles to defeat the new enemy.

The trailer also hints at the return of several other characters from Black Widow's past. Oscar nominee Florence Pugh appears as Yelena Belova, who becomes the second Black Widow in the comics, but is referred to in the trailer as Natasha's sister. David Harbour, of Stranger Things fame, also joins the cast as Red Guardian, a Soviet equivalent of Captain America.

But who is Taskmaster? Below we take a look into the newcomer's past – and his powers.

Star of the show: Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow
Marvel

What is Taskmaster's backstory?

Taskmaster first appeared in Avengers #195 in May 1980, created by David Michelinie and George Perez.

He was introduced as part of a storyline involving another minor villain, Pernell Solomon. Solomon tried to hatch a plot to clone himself, but ended up accidentally leading the Avengers to Taskmaster's top-secret villain school instead.

The story goes that Taskmaster started off as a superhero, before deciding that he could make more money as a villain, before settling into an even more financially lucrative – and safer – option: teaching other villains to fight, instead of fighting superheroes himself.

Taskmaster's greed always overcame his loyalty, meaning he was quite happy to work for the US government when they paid him enough. One notable example arose when Steve Rogers was stripped of his Captain America title, and Taskmaster was brought in by the government to train John Walker up as his replacement.

Marvel occasionally revealed Taskmaster's unmasked face, but took their time in revealing his real name, which is Tony Masters.

What are Taskmaster's powers?

Widow maker: Taskmaster arrives in the MCU for the first time

Taskmaster's extraordinary powers are what led him to such success training other villains. He is essentially able to mirror the physical capabilities of anyone he's fighting – what you might call "photographic" reflexes. As long as a movement is human, he is able to mimic it.

This makes him an excellent fighter both in his own right and as a teacher. In his first appearance, Taskmaster easily took down Scott Lang's Ant-Man, Hank Pym, and Wasp. He even managed to fight both Captain America and Iron Man at the same time.

Villains flock to him because he knows how Captain America throws his shield, and can perform Daredevil’s flips exactly, making him the perfect opponent to train against.

The only trouble arises when Taskmaster is faced with superhuman movements. He nearly snapped in half when fighting living cartoon character Slapstick, and faced a similarly painful defeat against Jocasta, who had no human movements either.

When it comes to fighting Black Widow, we'll have to wait and see how Taskmaster fares.

When does Black Widow come out?

Explosive: Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Marvel

Black Widow is due to be released on May 1st this year. For everything we know so far, read this page.

It will star Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz, but it is not yet clear who will play Taskmaster.

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