In "Black Widow," one of the villains that Natasha Romanoff fights is classic Marvel
villain Taskmaster. A skilled assassin who imitates others' fighting styles, Tony Masters
is the identity of the person underneath the skeletal-looking mask in the Marvel Comics
version of Taskmaster.
However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe changes things up a bit with the character's identity
for "Black Widow," revealing — after a lot of speculation over the past few months — Taskmaster
to be someone from Natasha's past. Spoiler alert: The MCU Taskmaster is none other than
Antonia Dreykov.
Wait, who? That's a name that traces back to the original "I've got red in my ledger"
conversation Natasha has with Loki aboard the SHIELD helicarrier in the first "Avengers" film.
"Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter?"
Dreykov's daughter was just a young girl when she was caught in the explosion that took
place during Nat's final mission — to eliminate Dreykov himself, the mastermind behind the
Red Room — before joining SHIELD.
When the mask comes off, Antonia presents a scarred and ruined face to her rival. However,
as you might guess, the person who plays Antonia is rather attractive in real life, and you
may have seen her before in her previous work.
The actress's name is Olga Kurylenko, and although she appears to be uncredited in this
film, she's a Ukrainian-French actress and model with one of Hollywood's most coveted
roles for gorgeous women on her resume.
After several roles in French cinema and television, Kurylenko's breakout role came in the 2007
cinematic adaptation of the popular "Hitman" video game. Starring Timothy Olyphant [ALL-lih-fint]
in the title role as assassin Agent 47, the film revolves around his murder missions for
the Organization, a shadowy group that trains young men to be professional killers from
a young age. He crosses paths with Kurylenko's character when he is sent to publicly execute
the Russian President.
"Hitman" managed a dreadful 16% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes but grossed an impressive
$99 million against its $24 million budget. It was due for a sequel, in which Olyphant
did not plan to appear, but was instead rebooted in 2015's "Hitman: Agent 47" with Rupert Friend
in the lead role.
Kurylenko was not involved in the reboot but the first film served as an important stepping
stone in her career. A year after "Hitman" was released, Kurylenko became a Bond girl
early in her acting career, starring in "Quantum of Solace" opposite Daniel Craig in 2008.
The Hollywood Reporter stated in 2019 that she "found her niche" during that movie and
has been in contention for some of the industry's most action-oriented leading lady roles. She
starred in "Oblivion" with Tom Cruise in 2013 and was a runner-up to Gal Gadot for the role
of Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe.
She also starred in "The Courier" from 2019 as an ex-soldier who uses her combat skills
when a delivery goes awry. She's now been doing action films for 12 years, and it all
started with the training she did for "Quantum of Solace." Kurylenko told the Hollywood Reporter,
"I remember coming home, collapsing on my bed and falling asleep. It was a big shock
for my body. 'Quantum' was the start of all these physical action films that I did after,
but it was the very first one for which I had to train so hard and so much. It was six
months and so intense. For the first month, I trained literally every day — from morning
till evening. I went from doing nothing to suddenly doing everything that's super intense."
She noted that regular gym workouts never gave her endorphins, but martial arts or sparring
do. She's clearly in the right line of work.
Her other films include "To the Wonder" with Ben Affleck, and the dark comedy "The Death
of Stalin." Like a lot of celebs, she made news in 2020 for catching the coronavirus,
but it's fairly certain her fame from this point forward will be for other things. You're
going to see this lovely face again.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite
MCU actors are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't
miss a single one.