'Black Widow': Did OT Fagbenle just hint he may be Taskmaster in upcoming MCU flick?
The identity of Taskmaster in 'Black Widow' has been widely debated by Marvel fans ever since they got a first-hand look at the character. While some theories were outlandish, some were good enough to pay attention to. There were speculations rife that Rachel Weisz's Melina Vostokoff was one of the characters behind the mask while a majority opined it would have to be actor, OT Fagbenle.
In what comes as an interesting development, Fagbenle may have hinted he is the famed Marvel villain in the upcoming flick. His role as Rick Mason has been kept under complete wraps, but he did seem to have hinted he is playing Taskmaster on a post on Instagram Live. For Fagbenle, this was actually a conspiracy theory. "There’s a whole conspiracy theory that I’m Taskmaster," Fagbenle remarked, and his friend replied, "You probably are."
"You’re trying to get it out as well?" Fagbenle replied, "I thought we spoke about this, I thought we were going to keep some s**t on the DL."
Fagbenle will be remembered as Luke Bankole in the multi-award-winning drama, 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The British actor's other prominent works include 'The Interceptor' and 'Thorne', the British crime drama series.
Going by the comic, Taskmaster may not exactly be an A-list villain like Red Skull or Doctor Doom but he does have his own unique history. He made his first appearance in ‘The Avengers’ #195 (May 1980), created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez. While the character is most commonly depicted as a training instructor working for various criminal organizations, he's been a lot more "inspirational" behind the scenes than in the comics itself.
As far as the movie update of 'Black Widow' goes, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic saw the release date of the film pushed to November 6 later this year. The official synopsis reads: "In Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller 'Black Widow', Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises.
"Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz is Melina. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, 'Black Widow' — the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — hits US theaters on November 6, 2020."