Taskmaster

"Captain America. A man out of time... and his depth." "Big talk for a guy whose moves are stolen from others."

- Taskmaster and Captain America

Taskmaster is a mercenary terrorist who is often hired as a training instructor by various criminal organizations.

Biography
Taskmaster allied himself with Sin and King Cobra in their conflict against S.H.I.E.L.D.. He arranged Stage One of their plan.

Once they had stolen several Iso-8-powered nuclear warheads from Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. with the intention of bombing major cities, Taskmaster's men diverted S.H.I.E.L.D. from the destination of the stolen weapons. Sin ordered him to place Bernhold Renner, the S.H.I.E.L.D. analyst they had taken hostage, at a rigged base as a trap, since Captain America would not be able to resist a rescue mission.

Once Rogers rescued Renner, Maria Hill alerted him that Taskmaster was in the area. While Nick Fury told Rogers that getting out of there alive was his top priority due to what a dangerous opponent Taskmaster was, Rogers decided to take him into custody since he was their only lead to discovering who was behind this plot, to which Hill agreed. Rogers engaged Taskmaster and defeated him. Once in custody he was interrogated by Black Widow, but he did not reveal anything.

Personality
Falcon stated that Taskmaster is motivated by greed and demands top dollar, hence lunatics like R.A.I.D. usually cannot afford him.

Powers and Abilities
Taskmaster possesses photographic reflexes and muscle memory. This ability combined with his super soldier strength, agility, intelligence & rapid healing factor, enable him to watch another person's physical movements and duplicate them without any practice, no matter how complex. He has memorized hundreds of fighting techniques and is among the most formidable armed and unarmed combatants. Taskmaster is a highly desired combat trainer for criminal organizations. Acquiring Captain America's unique fighting style is one of his top priorities.

Allies

 * R.A.I.D.
 * Sinthea Schmidt/Sin
 * Lancaster Sneed/Shockwave
 * Serpent Society
 * Klaus Voorhees/King Cobra
 * Gordon Fraley/Puff Adder
 * Rachel Leighton/Diamondback
 * U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.

Enemies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury
 * Maria Hill
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Bernhold Renner
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon
 * Matthew Ellis

Behind the Scenes

 * signed on to direct a movie adaptation of Taskmaster in 2008. Carnahan said that the film would "literally build this character's origin" and that it would "commence with the events following Taskmaster's severe beat down at the hands of Moon Knight".