Black Widow Wasted Its Best Possible Taskmaster Twist
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Black Widow.
Taskmaster is revealed to be Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) in Black Widow, but the identity reveal would've worked better with a different character underneath the helmet. Taskmaster prompted several Black Widow theories in the long build-up to its release, with Marvel keeping the true identity of both the character and the actor playing them a secret. In the end, all of that speculation proved to be wrong, with the surprise that Taskmaster is actually Antonia, the daughter of Dreykov (Ray Winstone)
In MCU terms, the reveal pays off a line from 2012's The Avengers, with "Dreykov's daughter" first mentioned by Loki as a dark part of Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) backstory. Black Widow reveals that Nat killed Antonia during the infamous Budapest mission with Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) - or at least, she thought she did. Antonia improbably survived alongside her father, and was programmed into a killing machine capable of perfectly copying the Avengers' fighting styles. Taskmaster may combine the skills of several MCU heroes, though arguably doesn't show that mimicry off enough, but in narrative terms the twist doesn't fully land.
While Taskmaster/Antonia is linked to both Nat's past and present, there's an odd disconnect with the character. Everything with Antonia hinges on one decision Black Widow made, and there's little exploration of that from the opposite point-of-view; Antonia is only ever a pawn, rather than a person. It's understandable why Marvel chose to go down this route, as it pays off Loki's Avengers line and fits the Red Room story while offering a twist, but much of that could've been achieved with a different character as Taskmaster: Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). Natasha and Yelena's (Florence Pugh) "mother" while living in America, she maintains her close links to the Red Room, and was heavily theorized to be Taskmaster in Black Widow. While Melina in this role would mean some significant story beats changed, it likely would've been for the better.
Unlike Black Widow, Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Yelena (once she's cured of her mind control), Melina continues to work for the Red Room and Dreykov in a key role, so there would be a way of working her being Taskmaster's real identity. There isn't too much shown of Melina's fighting abilities, nor is her character explored in the same amount of depth as the other three members of the family. Compared to those, Melina and Weisz feel underutilized, something having her serve as Taskmaster could have fixed. Her continued link to the Red Room and the decisions she's had to make, alongside a meatier role for an actress of Weisz' talents, all feel like a missed opportunity.
Having Melina as Taskmaster would mean the story doesn't play out in the exact same way, but some story elements could still unfold in a similar fashion: the backstory, the initial encounter, the reunion, and then the reveal can all work. What it adds, though, is an extra dynamic: it shows an even greater level to the Red Room's control, and whether Melina was mind controlled or willingly chose to do it could both offer up intriguing angles that could add depth to her as a character and Taskmaster as a villain. Most importantly, it would allow for a much stronger connection to Nat herself. Black Widow's core theme is family, and so having one of the central villains be her faux-mother would make the twist hit so much harder, and the eventual redemption all the more powerful too.
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