This Classic Character Is Officially Back Under Marvel's Control

Marvel has a vast collection of characters in their library to pull from for their Cinematic Universe, yet there have been and likely will continue to be holdouts. Fantastic Four and The X-Men are still controlled by 20th Century Fox, and Namorthe Sub-Mariner is drowning in a sea of complications with Universal.

Yet, Marvel continues to push out some of the greatest films and television series' and with their ever-growing popularity; they're able to regain control over some of their heroes and villains. Sometimes it's an expired deal or striking a new deal with another studio (*ahem* Spider-Man *ahem*) that has brought the character back to the House of Ideas, but whatever the reason it's great news to hear that we may get to see these characters join the MCU.

Speaking of great news, it's been recently confirmed that another supervillain, and freelance good guy, is returning to Marvel's purview: Taskmaster. In an interview with Tim Miller, director of the upcoming Deadpool film, said:

I'd love to see Deadpool fight Batman - no, I'm just kidding, that's not even in the Marvel family! I'd live to see Deadpool go 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 femail Wolverine. The female clone of Wolverine.

Heroic Hollywood picked up on Miller's comment about 'staying inside the Fox family'. They discovered that the Taskmaster rights had indeed reverted back to Marvel, around the same time as Daredevil. Fox snagged the rights way-back-when and made an attempt at a live-action film with director Joe Carnahan and A-Team producer Alex Young, but it never actually got off the ground and was shelved until returning to Marvel.

Even though we won't be able to see this epic battle between Deadpool and Taskmaster, with his rights returning to Marvel it opens up a lot of opportunities for this character to join current and future MCU projects.

Who is Taskmaster?

Taskmaster (a.k.a. Tony Masters) has the ability to mimic the movements of anyone that he watches. He gained this ability after ingesting a chemical serum while on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. that altered his brain chemistry to make him hyper-cognitive in observation and retention. This ability helped Taskmaster become a master in various forms of combat though watching videos as well as direct combat with characters like: Ant-Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Cable, Daredevil, Deadpool, Elektra, Falcon, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Punisher, Spider-Man, Tigra, Warbird, Wolverine and several others.

The downside to his powers is that, for every new memory that he gains, he loses his personal memories (past experiences and his own original personality) making him less like who he used to be. Taskmaster is primarily a villain, but has loaned out his skills for a price when it's in his own interest. Taskmaster carried out several major crimes before deciding that it was more financially sound to teach other villains how to fight and do crime, so he opened a school of sorts to train anyone who could pay. He's one of those characters who could turn up anywhere in a variety of roles, so the question becomes:

Where could Taskmaster join the MCU?

Well, there are a few options, but it's ultimately pretty hard to pin down the best option for the character. Could he...

Join a major film in the MCU?

With his skills, he would definitely make a good physical threat in theaters similar to Batroc the Leaper in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but he most likely wouldn't ever be the primary villain against any of the heavy-hitters in the Marvel Film Verse although he could show up as a villain against Spider-Man seeing as they've crossed paths in both the comics and the animated series'.

Join Netflix or another TV show?

There were rumors earlier this year about a Thunderbolts series hitting Netflix, and since Taskmaster was an integral part of the group several times in his history he could easily be added as one of the main "protagonists" of the series. Whereas if Marvel wants to focus on sticking with the villainous side of his character, he could become a prime antagonist on shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or possibly The Defenders once they are eventually formed on Netflix.