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{{Quote|When your bomb exploded, it nearly killed my Antonia. I had to put a chip in the back of her neck. In the back of her neck. Look at her. You find it difficult to look at her. I, too.|[[Dreykov]] to [[Natasha Romanoff]]|Black Widow (film)}} |
{{Quote|When your bomb exploded, it nearly killed my Antonia. I had to put a chip in the back of her neck. In the back of her neck. Look at her. You find it difficult to look at her. I, too.|[[Dreykov]] to [[Natasha Romanoff]]|Black Widow (film)}} |
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| − | '''Antonia Dreykov'''(Russian: '''Антония Дрейкова'''), also known as '''Taskmaster''', is the daughter of General [[Dreykov]] and a commander of the [[Red Room]] who possesses uncanny photographic reflexes that allow her to mimic the fighting techniques of other individuals. |
+ | '''Antonia Dreykov''' (Russian: '''Антония Дрейкова'''), also known as '''Taskmaster''', is the daughter of General [[Dreykov]] and a commander of the [[Red Room]] who possesses uncanny photographic reflexes that allow her to mimic the fighting techniques of other individuals. |
==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Revision as of 10:01, 11 July 2021
| For alternate versions of Taskmaster, see Taskmaster's Character Hub |
- "When your bomb exploded, it nearly killed my Antonia. I had to put a chip in the back of her neck. In the back of her neck. Look at her. You find it difficult to look at her. I, too."
- ―Dreykov to Natasha Romanoff[src]
Antonia Dreykov (Russian: Антония Дрейкова), also known as Taskmaster, is the daughter of General Dreykov and a commander of the Red Room who possesses uncanny photographic reflexes that allow her to mimic the fighting techniques of other individuals.
Biography
Budapest Operation
Antonia is the daughter of General Dreykov, the overseer of the secret Russian Red Room Academy. As a young girl, she was used by the rogue Black Widow Natasha Romanoff to track down her father. Determined the bring the evil man down, Natasha ordered Clint Barton to detonate the explosives and take out Dreykov regardless of his daughter being in the range, collapsing the entire five-story building they were in. Natasha believed them both to be killed and spend years dealing with her guilt of killing an innocent to justify the means.[1]
Transformed into Taskmaster
Neither of the Dreykovs was killed however, and although the general remained unscathed, Antonia was severely injured. Her face was badly burned and her cerebral cortex was damaged, causing her mobility loss. Dreykov saw this as an opportunity and subjected her to extensive experimental enhancements. An external device was fitted to the back of her head that restored her mobility, but also enabled Antonia to remember and perfectly replicate the fighting styles of others by observing and studiying their movements. Like the other Red Room Academy graduates, she was subjected to chemical conditioning developed by Melina Vostokoff that made her a prisoner inside her own body and allowed Dreykov to remotely control her most minute actions. Designated as "Project Taskmaster", she was deployed to the field only in the very extreme situations.[1]
Chasing Down Natasha Romanoff
In 2016 Dreykov sent the Taskmaster after rogue Widow Yelena Belova who was in possession of a rare antidote that could counter his mental control over his victims. Taskmaster tracked to package down to Norway and engaged Romanoff, Belova's sister, who was in possession of the antidote and was able to escape. The two rogue Widows reunited in Budapest and Taskmaster and the other Widows chased them through the streets of the city, eventually losing their tracks.[1]
Ambush at Melina Vostokoff's Residence
Determined to bring Dreykov down, Belova and Romanoff teamed up with their "mother" Melina and "father" Alexei Shostakov. Melina pretended to betray them, allowing Taskmaster and the Widows to take them prisoners to the floating Academy that served as Dreykov's headquarters.[1]
Secrets Revealed
There, Dreykov revealed to Romanoff that the Taskmaster was in fact his daughter whom Romanoff intended to kill as a collateral. Distraught, Natasha let Alexei fight the Taskmaster while she was dealing with Dreykov. Shostakov fought to a standstill and eventually was able to trap his opponent inside a secure cell meant for himself.[1]
Destruction of the Red Room
Melina had destabilized the structure, forcing everyone to make a frantic escape in which Dreykov was killed for good. Romanoff refused to let Antonia die and freed her from her cell, even though she was immediately attacked for it.[1]
Freedom
After both made it safely to the ground, Natasha managed to douse Antonia with the antidote, freeing her from the mental control. Antonia was only able to gasp "He's gone" before her caretaker, likewise no longer mind-controlled, took her away to avoid being captured by the forces of State Secretary Ross.[1]
Personality
- "Is he gone?"
- ―Taskmaster to Black Widow
Due to living most of her life under her father's control not much is known of Antonia's real personality.
As Taskmaster, Antonia is quiet and is only focused on her mission and would only be responsive with silence to take down her enemies. Such as breaking from taking her objective to take down Natasha Romanoff, and continuously banging on the cell she was being held in to escape the falling Red Room.
When freed from Dreykov's control Antoina begged Natasha Romanoff to know if Dreykov was gone, showing she loathed being controlled by her own father.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- "She watches everything. And she can do it. She's a perfect mimic. And she fights just like all of your friends."
- ―Dreykov to Natasha Romanoff[src]
- Photographic Reflexes: By viewing how a target fights, Taskmaster is able to replicate their fighting style perfectly. She is able to retain this information and use previously replicated fighting styles against different opponents, and can virtually predict his enemy's attacks. So far, Taskmaster has shown to copy the fighting styles of Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, the Winter Soldier, Black Panther and Iron Man. While she can replicate a style, she can still be hampered if she does not have access to the same equipment such as Captain America's vibranium shield. Additionally, she is unable to replicate superhuman feats such as the Hulk's strength.
Abilities
- Master Martial Artist: Having studied and copied the fighting styles of most of the Avengers, Taskmaster is a master hand to hand combatant and martial artist.
- Shield Mastery: Having studied and copied the fighting style of Captain America, Taskmaster is highly skilled at wielding a shield in combat defensively or offensively, and throwing it with deadly precision.
- Sword Mastery: Though it's currently unknown who's swordsmanship has been copied, Taskmaster is highly skilled at wielding a sword in close quarters combat, best demonstrated during both fights against Black Widow.
- Knife Mastery: Having studied and copied the fighting style of the Winter Soldier, Taskmaster has advanced skill in using a knife in close quarters combat. This best demonstrated during the fight against Red Guardian.
- Master Marksman: Having studied and copied the marksmanship of Hawkeye, Taskmaster has very precise aim when using a bow, and with additional features like an explosive device. She was able to overturn Natasha and Yelena's vehicle by ricocheting an explosive arrow from the ground to their vehicle.
- Master Acrobat: Having studied and copied Black Widow, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Captain America, Taskmaster can perform highly acrobatic feats even during a fight.
- Master Tactician: To be added
Equipment
Weapons
- Shield: Taskmaster carries a metallic circular shield similar to the one used by Captain America. The shield itself is collapsible and is magnetically attached to Taskmaster's gauntlets. The shield is made of a durable bulletproof material and shaped aerodynamically so that it can be thrown.
- Sword: Taskmaster carries a collapsible single edged sword similar in appearance to a katana or ninjato sword. The sword is stored on the back compartment of the suit.
- Bow: Taskmaster carries a blue and orange foldable composite bow similar to the one used by Hawkeye, which was used to fire an explosive arrow to overturn Natasha and Yelena's vehicle.
- Arrows: Taskmaster most likely carries standard arrows as part of copying Hawkeye's archery skills.
- Explosive Arrows: Taskmaster carries explosive trick arrows like Hawkeye which was used to overturn Black Widow and Yelena's vehicle.
- Handgun: Taskmaster has a handgun holstered on the right thigh. Taskmaster drew this gun on Black Widow to protect Dreykov.
- Combat Knife: Taskmaster carries a combat knife which was used during the fight against Red Guardian.
Other Equipment
- Suit: Taskmaster wears a tactical armored suit when operating on missions. The helmet is retractable and can be removed by a button on the right gauntlet.
- HUD: Taskmaster's mask has a heads up display which analyzes battlefield data.
- Retractable Claws: Taskmaster's gloves contain retractable metal claws similar to those of Black Panther, which were used against Red Guardian.
- Retractable Blade Gauntlet: Taskmaster's left gauntlet contains a retractable blade similar to Crossbones, which was used in an attempt to kill Red Guardian.
Vehicles
- APC: To be added
- Jeep: Taskmaster drove this truck when ambushing Black Widow on the bridge.
- Helicopter: To be added
Facilities
- Red Room Academy: To be added
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
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Trivia
- In the comics, Anthony "Tony" Masters, better known as Taskmaster, was a mercenary hired as a training instructor by various criminal organizations such as HYDRA and A.I.M., who had the uncanny ability to mimic the fighting moves of his opponents.
- Some of the people he has copied include (but are not limited to) Ant-Man, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Bullseye, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Elektra, Falcon, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Moon Knight, Punisher, Shang-Chi, Spider-Man, and U.S. Agent. He also trained U.S. Agent, Crossbones, and Red Skull.
- Taskmaster is one of the many gender-swapped characters from their counterpart in the comics.
- Taskmaster is the ninth character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be depicted as a different gender from their counterpart in the comics, following Jeri Hogarth, the Ancient One, Fenris, Ghost, Mar-Vell, Morgan Stark, Gabriella Rosetti, and Flag Smasher.
- In the non-canon video game Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game, Taskmaster is a man like his comic conterpart. He was a terrorist hired by Sin and King Cobra, who was brought into conflict with S.H.I.E.L.D. after stealing nuclear warheads from Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. He became an adversary of Captain America before he was taken into custody.[2]
Behind the Scenes
- Andy Lister was a stunt double for Olga Kurylenko in the role of Taskmaster.
- Joe Carnahan signed on to direct a movie adaptation of Taskmaster in 2008. While the plan ultimately changed and the movie did not happen at that time, Carnahan had 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".[3]
