Marvel Studiosscored a major coup earlier this year when it announced a deal with Sony Pictures to bringSpider-Maninto theMarvel Cinematic Universe. The studio now controls almost all of its major comic book characters, with the exception of 20th Century Fox’sX-MenandFantastic Fourproperties, and Namo the Sub-Mariner at Universal. As it turns out, it seems that the studio re-acquired another comic book character, under the radar, according to reports fromComicBook.comandHeroic Hollywood.
The character in question is Taskmaster, who directorJoe Carnahanwas developing a movie around several years ago, that never came to fruition. The filmmaker was also developing aDaredevilreboot for 20th Century Fox, but they couldn’t get production started before the rights expired, which lead to the rights reverting back toMarvel Studios.DeadpooldirectorTim Millerwas recently asked who he would like to see the Merc With the Mouth do battle with, when he mentioned Taskmaster, although his answer implied that 20th Century Fox no longer controls the rights.
“I’d love to seeDeadpoolfightBatman- no, I’m just kidding, that’s not even in the Marvel family! I’d love to seeDeadpoolgo up against Taskmaster who’s another Marvel total fuckin' badass. But if I was to stay inside the Fox family, I would like to see him fight X-23, the female Wolverine. The female clone of Wolverine.”
Following this revelation,ComicBook.com’s source revealed thatMarvel Studiosacquired the rights to Taskmaster at the same time that they got theDaredevil rightsback in 2013. The rights to other Marvel characters such asGhost Rider,The PunisherandBladealso reverted back to the studio just a few weeks later. The studio hasn’t announced any projects withGhost RiderandBladejust yet, but Punisher will be introduced into the MCU inMarvel’s Daredevil Season 2next year.
In the Marvel Comics, Taskmaster, a.k.a. Tony Masters, has the ability to mimic the physical movements of anyone he watches. The main downfall to his abilities is that he loses some of his own personal memories, after he mimics another person. Taskmaster has frequently been portrayed as a criminal in the comics, but he has also worked forS.H.I.E.L.D.as well. It’s possible that this character could be introduced inMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.at some point, or any of the studio’s other movie and TV properties, but the studio hasn’t announced any plans for the character yet. Would you like to see Taskmaster introduced in the MCU at some point?
