Thunderbolts* looks destined to make one of the MCU’s worst villains even worse

Thunderbolts*, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's answer to the Suicide Squad, comes out on May 2. Director Jake Schreier will surely want to distance himself from those kinds of comparisons, but it’s hard not to see the similarities between the two stories. Thunderbolts* stars a rag-tag team of misunderstood antiheroes working for a shadowy organization ruled over by a badass woman. If Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) getting an expendable group of souped-up villains to do her bidding sounds similar to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) pulling the strings in 2016’s Suicide Squad and 2021’s The Suicide Squad, that’s because it is.

Still, Schreier’s take on Thunderbolts* revamps the typical Thunderbolts lineup from Marvel Comics and gives it an MCU twist. There’s no sign of Daniel Brühl’s Helmut Zemo, nor the original comic book roster of Goliath, Beetle, Fixer, Moonstone, and Screaming Mimi. Instead, the live-action Thunderbolts include a cocktail of Captain America, Ant-Man, and Black Widow villains. It’s a who’s who of familiar faces, with David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Olga Kurylenko reprising their respective roles as Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, US Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster, who plays a particularly important role in this story.

Thunderbolts* seemingly reveals a major death

Thunderbolts* will also introduce a new character named Sentry (Lewis Pullman), who is sort of like Marvel's answer to Superman. With that, we also get Sentry’s villainous alter ego of the Void, meaning we’re expecting some tragic cast departures before the credits roll. Any (if not all) of the team is in danger of meeting a grisly demise in Thunderbolts*, but due to the movie’s extensive marketing, fans are already convinced they know who’ll be clocking out early. Sorry Taskmaster fans, but it’s not looking good for the silent assassin.

In Marvel Comics, Taskmaster is typically associated with Spider-Man, but when it came to the MCU, a gender-flipped version of the character was introduced in Black Widow. There were plenty of theories about who Taskmaster could be going into that movie, with some hoping that Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye would end up taking up the role; that would tie up his line from The Avengers, when he told Black Widow, “You and I remember Budapest very differently.”

Others theorized that Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) could be Taskmaster, which would put a fresh spin on her villainous legacy as Iron Maiden. Instead, a convoluted storyline revealed Taskmaster as Antonia Dreykov, the injured daughter of General Dreykov (Ray Winstone), who’d been turned into a mindless puppet.

Unlike the smart-talking Taskmaster of the comics, the MCU’s version was a mute mercenary who was teased for a bigger role in the Black Widow sequel we’ll likely never get. With the inclusion of Red Guardian, Yelena, and Taskmaster, Thunderbolts* already feels like it’s replacing that non-existent Black Widow 2, but if you’re hoping for some Taskmaster redemption, it looks like you’re out of luck. MCU trailers are known for misleading fans, but eagle-eyed viewers can’t help but notice that Taskmaster doesn’t appear in a major capacity beyond the team meeting in a shadowy facility. When asked about how Taskmaster fits into things, Schreier told Empire Magazine: "I think we enjoy playing with that mystery."

The scene where the team meets up seems to come toward the start of the movie. It may be their first meeting, because the various team members are seen fighting each other. It also looks like this is the first time we’ll meet Sentry, aka Bob Reynolds. If he escapes from the facility, the rest of the movie will likely involve the team trying to hunt him down under the orders of Valentina. It’s possible that things will play out differently, but by all accounts, everything culminates in a dramatic final battle in New York, with the Thunderbolts storming the former Avengers Tower and the Void serving as the movie’s real big bad. Thunderbolts* is destined to get things off to a grisly start by offing one of the team, and looking at the marketing, it’s not exactly a secret that Taskmaster is destined to kick the bucket first.

Don’t count Taskmaster out just yet

Taskmaster isn't a major player and her death wouldn’t pack a punch like killing off someone like Bucky or Yelena. Equally, getting her death out of the way early would set the tone of the movie by making her canon fodder, similar to how Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) was killed early in The Suicide Squad. Then again, would the MCU be foolish enough to spoil a character death in the trailer? Captain America: Brave New World was called out for spoiling Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross transformation into Red Hulk in its trailer, while others slammed it for overhyping the scarlet slugger’s role in the movie.

These movies typically tend to have some sort of mole in the team, so it’s possible Taskmaster is MIA because she’s working for someone else and betrays the team. Still, with the original Thunderbolts* trailer running at 3 minutes and 41 seconds, you would’ve thought Taskmaster would’ve had something else to do. In the subsequent trailers and TV spots, it’s hard to find much evidence of Taskmaster lasting beyond the meet-up scene. There is a wide shot of the group at the former Avengers Tower that features Taskmaster, but just like Spider-Man: No Way Home edited out Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Men, Taskmaster could’ve been easily edited in to this Thunderbolts* scene.

Taskmaster stans are coming up with some increasingly wild theories to save her from her inevitable fate, and because it’s true that she’s never seen without her mask on, some think it’s not the real Taskmaster who meets her maker. The MCU hasn’t exactly established Taskmaster as an A-tier villain on par with Loki, so it wouldn’t make such sense to save her. At least we know some of the Thunderbolts* cast will live to fight another day, with at least some of the team confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday.

Thunderbolts* can still turn it around with Taskmaster, but don’t hold your breath. After the character’s role in Black Widow left many feeling disappointed, it looks like Taskmaster is destined to deserve better in the MCU. Still, if Kurylenko’s Taskmaster is out, it gives us a chance to bring the comic-accurate Anthony Masters into the fold.

RIP Taskmaster, we hardly knew ye.

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