We’ve seen no shortage of Black Widow previews up to this point, but we had yet to learn much about the film’s villain, Taskmaster. That’s changing with the movie’s latest and final trailer, as it finally reveals some key details about Black Widow‘s big bad.
Taskmaster is referenced by name in the new trailer, and it’s also revealed what he does. Taskmaster controls a secret program known as the Red Room, which is a training ground for widow-type assassins. This is where Black Widow herself learned her skills, but Taskmaster is running the program a little differently than she remembers it. His widows are described as being conscious but with no control over their actions, leaving them able to do Taskmaster’s bidding only. This has created an army of black widows, and it’s up to our favorite Black Widow to stop them.
Fans of Marvel Comics should recognize Taskmaster as the villain with the photographic reflexes, whose ability is to perfectly mimic the fighting style of anyone he takes on. Thankfully, it looks like the film may keep this aspect of Taskmaster intact, as the latest trailer shows him studying some of Black Widow’s fighting moves from Iron Man 2 (we wonder if he bought the Blu-ray?). One thing about the cinematic version of the character that fans may not like, however, is his look. While in the comics he looks like a jacked grim reaper complete with a sweet skull mask, the movie version tones him down to look more like a generic ninja/military assassin. Basically, he looks like Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe. It’s kind of a meh look, but it at least looks like his characterization will be pretty comics accurate. Take a look at the final Black Widow trailer below.
Black Widow creeps into theaters on May 1.
