Who is the Taskmaster?

Who is this guy indeed? After the second trailer for the Black Widow movie, fans are left wondering who is behind the mask of Taskmaster?

If you look on IMDb, we currently see a variety of cast members, but no one specifically playing the role of Taskmaster.

The actor Ray Winstone is confirmed in the movie along with a handful of unknown female actresses; all of which are nameless when it comes to portraying a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I mean even some of the extras have either names, or a fake profession by their name on IMDb.

In short, the lack of character names shows something is at work here.

Here is what we know about the movie so far that may answer some questions about Taskmaster. Now we learn that Black Widow is taking place after Captain America: Civil War. This would mean it's approximately 2017.

There are some scenes of Budapest, so we may finally understand that banter that Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton have on screen with each other.

In the comics, we learn that the Taskmaster's alter ego is Anthony "Tony" Masters, but even that is up for speculation. It is possible that that might be another alias he goes by. He's also from Brooklyn.

With all this in mind, here are 9 theories as to who could be behind the mask of the Taskmaster;

1- Hawkeye aka Clint Barton played by Jeremy Renner

In the first trailer we see the Taskmaster using a bow and arrow. This could just mean that the Taskmaster is imitating Hawkeye's moves, but if so, then will we be expecting a secret cameo in the movie? I mean we do see a Budapest in the trailer, and again that is something that Natasha and Clint talk about in the Avengers movies.

2- Captain America aka Steve Rogers as a Hydra agent Chris Evens

This one is a bit of a stretch. However, in the second trailer, we did see the Taskmaster hurl his shield just like Captain America. So far we've only seen one person throw a shield like that, and that was the Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan. But it can't be Bucky, can it? Nah!

Anyway, what if the events that took place in Avengers Endgame created a Captain America as a Hydra Agent and he also becomes the Taskmaster.

Now I know what you're thinking. "How is that Captain America going to jump from his original timeline to the one we know?"

A simple answer to that is, "Time travel!"

3- There's more than one Taskmaster

This would explain what I mentioned earlier with the multiple women casted, but having no specific names linked to them on IMDb. Each and every one of those female characters are playing an army of Taskmasters.

4- A Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff clone played by Scarlett Johansson

We've seen alien invasions, gods falling out of the sky, robots trying to take over the world, spies, multiverses, and even time travel. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't explored cloning yet, so this would be interesting to see a cloned Black Widow on the big screen. It's a stretch, but an interesting one nonetheless.

5- A Skrull

Another stretch, but maybe a Skrull went rogue, and decided to take on the mantle of Taskmaster, and throw everybody off for a loop. Now the question is, who would play the Skrull in this one?

6- Anthony "Tony" Masters

The obvious answer is that it is Anthony Masters, but the real question is, who will play him? My money is on these actors:

Keanu Reeves, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, John Krasinski, Daniel Radcliffe, or a complete no name.

7- Natasha Romanoff's Father, Ivan Romanoff

Possibly played by Ray Winstone. Which would explain why he doesn't have a movie character name by his name. So this story could be similar to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader relation, but a slight gender swap, and it's in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also this would be a perfect payoff from Avengers Endgame. Granted, in said movie she said that she never knew her father's name; but what if she unknowingly meets her father in the Black Widow movie, but only found out that Ivan was her father when Red Skull said his name.

It would be a neat twist.

8- Yelena Belova aka the new Black Widow played by Florence Pugh

The reason I think Belova could be the Taskmaster, is because in the first trailer we see them mirroring each other's moves with their guns pointing at each other. What does the Taskmaster do, he has photographic reflexes. He mirrors ones movement and skills.

This could be a well executed misdirection like they did in Iron Man 3, but better. Maybe what will happen is Natasha finds out that Yelena is the Taskmaster, and convinces her to become the ne Black Widow. After all, Natasha dies in Avengers Endgame.

9- Deadpool aka Wade Wilson played by Ryan Reynolds

Another stretch,but Deadpool can do anything! In fact Deadpool is probably the one character that Taskmaster can't predict.

After viewing my list of theories, I think my favorite ones have got to be 1,3,6,7,and 8

So what do you think? Which of these theories checks out?