How Black Widow kept Taskmaster’s identity under wraps

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Major spoilers for Black Widow. Consider yourself warned. After numerous delays thanks to COVID-19, Marvel's Black Widow finally debuted in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access earlier this month. The film received largely positive reviews and proved to be quite successful at the box-office (although it did suffer a very steep drop in its second week). As with most Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Black Widow included more than a few surprises, but the one that had most people talking was the identity of Taskmaster.

Taskmaster is a extremely skilled fighter who uses their photographic reflexes to mimic their opponents' fighting styles, and if you've seen Black Widow, you'll know that Taskmaster is ultimately revealed to be Antonia Dreykov, the daughter of Ray Winstone's character. Many, myself included, had suspected that Taskmaster would turn out to be O-T Fagbenle's character, or even Rachel Weisz's Melina Vostokoff, but at the end of the day, the actor behind the mask was Olga Kurylenko. As for just how Marvel Studios managed to keep Taskmaster's identity a secret for so long — a feat all the more impressive when you take the film's lengthy delay into account  — Olga Kurylenko explained to Esquire that even her own mother didn't know she was in the movie.

Everybody had to sign the NDA and everybody knew, of course, that it will be a big secret. That it was not to be spoken about. We were shooting outside and paparazzi are all over the place. I mean, I have to dress and walk from my tent to set. They made this umbrella that had fabric hanging from it. I was underneath and I had to look through a little hole to see where I'm going. So they were really on it. They were like, "No one will see who she is." And they managed to pull it off. I mean, up until now, no one knew. Do you know what? Even my mother doesn't know. She still doesn't know. It was so funny because the trailer came out and she was like, "Oh my God, OK, I saw this trailer. Do you know the movie that's coming out? That looks so cool. I want to see it. Can we go see it?" I said, "Sure, I'll go with you.” Well, it came out yesterday. I still haven't told her. I think I can tell her today. Poor mom. I mean, she has no idea.

The conclusion of Black Widow finds Taskmaster freed from the influence of her father as she finds a community with the other Widows from the Red Room. "In the end, it's really nice how all the women come together," Kurylenko said. "It's almost the reflection of what we are experiencing nowadays, I think. There's something happening in female community that women are accepting each other more, getting together, helping each other. There's this beautiful belonging to each other, which I think we didn't have that developed before." As for whether or not we'll see Olga Kurylenko suit up as Taskmaster once again, that choice remains in Marvel's hands, but Kurylenko says that there's plenty of Taskmaster's backstory still yet to tell. "It's for the studio. Look, they only decide," Kurylenko explained. "They could do whatever they want. Right? They could make her appear or disappear, so I wouldn't be able to confirm. I mean, obviously the thing is, to me, I enjoy playing that character. There's so much background story. There was no time to show it all in this film because the story went into the other direction. But there's so much that, of course, it could be developed."

Black Widow is now playing in theaters and streaming on Disney+ Premier Access, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray.