It hasn't even been a year since Marvel wrapped up Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and with it, most of the characters and story lines that had been ongoing for as long as a decade. When Phase 4 gets underway we'll be introduced to a lot of new characters, but before we get there, we have some unfinished business with Black Widow. The final trailer for May's big Phase 4 debut dropped online this morning, and with it, we got a much better look at the film's big bad, Taskmaster.
Fans of the character from Marvel Comics know Taskmaster well. He's an incredibly popular character whose primary ability is that he cam mimic basically any physical movement once he sees somebody else perform it. And based on this trailer, it looks like he's been reading up on the Avengers, as he's showing off several skills that look like they came directly from Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Captain America's Shield Skills
Early in the trailer we see Black Widow's car getting taken down by some sort of explosion, which, as it turns out, is an attack from Taskmaster himself. Widow tries to take him down with simple firearms, but Taskmaster is armed with a shield which he uses to stop the bullets. However, he's not only capable of using the shield in its traditional purpose. He then throws it at Black Widow, in a move that is certainly going to remind people of one of Black Widow's buddies, Captain America.
Of course, we also see David Harbour's Red Guardian pull off some shield skills as well near the end of the trailer, so it's possible Taskmaster is actually mimicking him. But since Red Guardian is really just the Russian Captain America, it really all comes from the same place either way.
Black Widow's Hand To Hand Combat
In the next part of the trailer, we learn exactly how Taskmaster has been gaining his abilities. He's watching what appears to be surveillance footage of Black Widow fighting, though, for us, it's actually footage of Scarlett Johansson's first MCU appearance, in Iron Man 2. It would seem that Taskmaster doesn't need to witness the physical movements in person, just watching people fight on television is enough. This means that he could have picked up a lot of different fighting techniques without the people he's copying ever having any idea.
Later in the trailer, in a battle with Red Guardian,. we see Taskmaster pull off a back flip that looks like exactly the sort of thing we woulds expect from Black Widow.
Hawkeye's Bow
Finally we're given another look at a moment we saw in the first trailer, Taskmaster using a bow and arrow. Without context, it could certainly be that Taskmaster is just using the weapon for its own sake. He's probably well trained in the use of a lot of different weapons. Since he's in charge of thew Red Room, where Black Widow received her training, that would seem to be necessary. However, knowing that the MCU version of Taskmaster has the same skill set as his comic counterpart, it seems quite likely that this is an intentional reference that Taskmaster has been studying Black Widow's buddy Hawkeye as well.
One certainly wonders if we'll see other Avengers abilities copied in the new Black Widow film. If you missed the new trailer earlier today, check it out below.
Black Widow hits theaters in may.
