Black Widow takes on Taskmaster in first concept art

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con came to a close this weekend, and while a few trailers and panels got some attention, Marvel Studios expectedly brought the whole house down by announcing their Phase 4 slate of content, which included some massive details. One of the best looks was at next year’s BLACK WIDOW movie with Scarlett Johansson, with the first footage screening for the crowd. But while we all may have to wait a few months for the first trailer we now have a solid look at what Marvel has in store with the first concept art of Widow taking on the villain known as Taskmaster.

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Johansson, and co-stars David Harbour, Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh shined on the stage in Hall H on Saturday, along with everyone else involved with Phase 4. There they talked a bit about BLACK WIDOW (directed by Cate Shortland) which our own Paul Shirey said “looks like a solid action thriller in the vein of Jason Bourne.” This first concept art came the next day from longtime Marvel artist Andy Park, which finds Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff throwing down with Tony Masters/Taskmasters, who is not using his shield correctly.

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As for who will playing who, we learned Harbour will be playing Alexi Shostakov / Red Guardian, a Russian hero akin to Captain America; Pugh will be playing Yelena Belova, another spy trained in the Red Room as part of the same Widows program as Romanoff, and who is considered like a “sister-figure” to her and; Weisz is playing Melina, a more seasoned spy involved in some deep secret science experiments. The cast also features O. T. Fagbenle as Rick Mason, but no word yet on who is playing Taskmaster behind that mask of his.

 While Taskmaster is making an MCU debut here, the character is a key villain in the Marvel universe. A highly skilled fighter with an incredible, photographic memory, he is known for studying and memorizing the techniques of others and then using them against anyone he wants. The character most recently appeared as part of a series of side missions in the "Spider-Man" video game for the PlayStation 4, wherein he makes Peter Parker go through a series of, er, tasks, with the player having to fight him as he uses Parker's own set of moves. 

Check out the video below for more interviews from Harbour, Weisz, Johannson and Kevin Feige!