Marvel fans have been waiting years for a Black Widow solo movie, and from the first
trailer it looks like we'll be getting some awesome action scenes, and fantastic new characters
joining the MCU, including a brand new villain, Taskmaster.
And with Marvel's history of twist reveals for their villains and the actor playing Taskmaster
currently a secret, fans have already begun to speculate about who's really beneath the
helmet.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm going to explain all the hidden
clues in the Black Widow teaser that reveal Taskmaster's true identity and the secret
twist in the movie.
Also, keep watching for details of an incredible thousand-dollar gift-card giveaway with bonus
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Quick warning, there will, of course, be speculation and potential spoilers for Black Widow.
As a super-spy movie, Black Widow will be full of characters double-crossing each other
and hiding secret intentions.
And when Taskmaster is revealed, it will likely be someone that's already close to Natasha
in some way in order to magnify the impact of that twist.
Potential candidates include Florence Pugh's Yelena, Rachel Weisz's Melina, and O.T.
Fagbenle's mysterious character Mason.
I'm going to say straight away that Red Guardian won't be Taskmaster because he's clearly fighting
the villain in this scene.
However, there is another character from Natasha's past who we also need to consider.
There's a popular theory that Taskmaster is actually Hawkeye in disguise.
I'm going to explain why that's highly unlikely, but first let's review the evidence.
The theory suggests the villain's skilled bow and arrow technique fits perfectly with
Clint Barton's expertise as an archer.
If this twist were true, it would be particularly shocking because Nat and Clint have been great
friends throughout their time together in the MCU, despite being on opposite sides for
a while during Civil War: "We're still friends aren't we?"
"Depends on how hard you hit me."
And – spoilers for Avengers: Endgame – when they go to Vormir to recover the Soul Stone,
Nat even sacrifices herself so Clint can live and get his own Disney+ TV show.
So, their friendship and Natasha's future sacrifice would make Hawkeye being the twist
villain in her own solo movie feel especially cruel and improbable.
The only real way it could make sense is if this moment is a flashback to the time that
Clint came after Natasha on SHIELD's orders.
"I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way.
Agent Barton was sent to kill me.
He made a different call."
It would be pretty weird though if Clint suited up as Taskmaster for this mission unless he'd
somehow gone rogue or was being mind-controlled by someone else like he was by Loki in the
first Avengers movie.
That all feels like a big stretch though and the final nail-in-the-coffin for this theory
could be that Taskmaster draws the bow with his right hand whereas the MCU's Clint is
left-handed when he uses the bow.
What's probably going on in this scene is that Taskmaster has copied Hawkeye's archery
skills from a previous encounter with him and is now using them against Natasha.
That's because Taskmaster has the power of photographic reflexes meaning he can mimic
and duplicate the moves, tricks and skills of anyone he observes.
Another possibility is that this is the Budapest event that's been referenced so many times
in the Infinity Saga and that Taskmaster is fighting Clint and imitating him in the moment.
"Just like Budapest all over again."
"You and I remember Budapest very differently."
"..long way from Budapest."
For our next Taskmaster candidate we need to take a look at new Black Widow character,
Melina Vostokoff played by Rachel Weisz who intriguingly revealed some juicy details about
Melina during an interview at Comic Con.
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OK, back to Taskmaster's secret identity.
Speaking to EW, Rachel Weisz explained that Melina is a seasoned assassin who's been through
the Black Widow programme five times, and that she "was deeply involved in a scientific
experiment."
Weisz then said she couldn't talk about that any further, and this itself means that her
character Melina is very likely to factor into one of the movie's major twists.
In the comics, Melina Vostokoff is a former Russian agent also known as Iron Maiden, who
becomes resentful of Black Widow and attempts to kill her.
In the Black Widow trailer, Melina's nefarious intentions towards Natasha aren't made obvious
and instead we see her with Nat, Yelena and Red Guardian, reuniting for a meal as if they
are old friends: "Family..
Back together again."
"You got fat."
But Melina's somewhat uncomfortable looks in that scene suggest she could be hiding
something.
The "scientific experiment" that Rachel Weisz mentioned might be the creation of David Harbour's
Red Guardian, who in the comics was the Soviet Union's answer to Captain America.
Or it could be Melina's creation of her own Iron Maiden suit.
However, I have a feeling that Melina could actually be responsible for creating Taskmaster
and that the "scientific experiment" is what ends up giving the villain its powers of mimicry
and duplication.
Interestingly, duplication and mirroring appear to be a theme in the Black Widow movie that
goes beyond Taskmaster.
For example, when we see Yelena and Natasha fight each other, they mirror and duplicate
the other's postures and moves.
Obviously, they were also trained under the same system but this symbolic mirroring seems
to be something the film is pushing thematically as well.
Here we see all the Black Widow operatives moving and turning in unison.
And during this aerial freefall, these three mercs are each performing the same motion,
reminding me a bit of clones.
The real question to ask ourselves here is whether Melina will be the person inside the
Taskmaster costume or did she experiment on somebody else?
Well, there's actually a sneaky clue that can help answer this in one of the other Taskmaster
scenes from the trailer.
When we see the villain go up against Red Guardian in a one-on-one fight, there's an
interesting visual perspective on how the two characters compare in terms of height.
If we draw a line, we can see there's only a slight difference in height, with Taskmaster
appearing to be just a little shorter than Red Guardian.
According to IMDB, Rachel Weisz who plays Melina is 5ft 6 inches tall, whereas David
Harbour, aka Red Guardian, is almost nine inches taller at nearly 6ft 3.
That's a much bigger height difference than this fight scene would suggest.
Admittedly, both characters aren't standing straight so we can't measure the height difference
exactly, but they both have their knees bent by roughly the same amount, and neither one
is wearing significantly thicker boots that would boost their height.
It's unlikely therefore that this is Melina in the Taskmaster outfit.
Now, there is actually another main Black Widow cast member who would fit in that costume
and that's actor O.T.
Fagbenle who's 6ft exactly, making him just 3 inches shorter than David Harbour which,
when we look at this picture, seems to be about the right amount.
Fagbenle, best known for his work in The Handmaid's Tale, is playing a character called Mason
in Black Widow.
In the cast interview with EW, he described Mason as "a fixer, […] the guy who can get
things done if you're a spy or superhero and need a little bit of extra help."
The actor also revealed that Mason "has a bit of a complex relationship" with Natasha
and a romantic interest in her.
Mason's name or Nat's prior relationship with him has never been mentioned or discussed
in previous MCU movies, which could mean the filmmakers will use that to show that their
relationship didn't go well and Natasha never wanted to bring it up.
In the comics, Mason worked for SHIELD, but he also had a freelance background working
as a covert operative where he was simply known as "The Agent".
Given Black Widow is a super-spy movie, it's also quite possible that Mason is some kind
of double-agent who works both for SHIELD and the Russians or Melina specifically.
I think it's interesting that Fagbenle chooses not to reveal which side Mason works for in
the interview with EW, especially as he exchanges a subtle glance with Rachel Weisz while describing
Mason's role in the film.
"He's like a fixer..
He's kind of the guy who can get things done.. ..if you're a spy or a superhero and you need
a bit of extra help.
Ahhm.. sort you out..
..I'm still..
I work.. all the time.."
And notice how Rachel Weisz smiles knowingly to herself when the interviewer initially
asks O.T. to talk about his character.
"So O.T. tell us a bit about.. the character that you play."
Oh yeah, I play erm..
Mason and er.."
Given all this and how little has been revealed about O.T.'s role in Black Widow, all clues
currently point to him being Taskmaster.
Of course, some fans have speculated that Yelena could be masquerading as Taskmaster.
If we go by the height theory though, then she'd be the least likely candidate, as Florence
Pugh at around 5ft 4 is almost a whole foot shorter than Red Guardian actor David Harbour.
Additionally, given Natasha's fate in Endgame, this film will probably serve as a way to
set up a new Black Widow character for future MCU movies and it looks like Yelena is the
most likely candidate for that right now.
So, who do you think Taskmaster really is underneath the helmet?
I've created a poll where you can vote.
Just tap in the top-right to make your prediction and to see the results.
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!