A new teaser for Thunderbolts has sparked a debate over the fate of Taskmaster after fans spotted what looks like the removal of the character from a crucial scene.
The Thunderbolts trailer from September 2024 shows Taskmaster standing between Ghost and U.S. Agent in the Watchtower scene.
The new teaser, however, shows the same scene but with Taskmaster omitted.
This, combined with the fact that Taskmaster actress Olga Kurylenko was not among the cast members announced this week to be Avengers: Doomsday, but the other Thunderbolts characters were, has caused some MCU fans to predict that Taskmaster does not make it out of the movie alive.
But why have Taskmaster in the original trailer scene but not in this latest teaser? Why the change? Fans have suggested lots of theories, from Marvel trying to double-bluff fans to hedging its bets when it came to working out what it was doing with Avengers: Doomsday.
Then there is the fact that both frames (the one from the original trailer and the one from this teaser) aren’t exactly the same. Apart from Taskmaster’s removal, the characters are positioned ever so slightly differently. Could this suggest Sentry simply ‘deletes’ Taskmaster in this scene, as he’s shown to be able to do to people in other trailer shots, and the rest of the Thunderbolts have yet to notice? Could Sentry have already killed Taskmaster at this point? Or did Taskmaster turn heel? As it stands, MCU fans aren’t really sure what to think.
“Marvel pretty much just sealed the fate of this character in the movie,” said redditor Matapple13. “Yesterday they announced Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman in the Avengers: Doomsday cast, but Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster’s actress) was blatantly absent, and now, Marvels posts this…”
“The amount of people saying she’s dying and Marvel seemingly leaning into that by barely showing her make me think theres a reveal there with her in the movie and that she lives,” commented puckallday.
What we do know is Sentry is incredibly powerful, and indeed this new teaser begins with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, saying Sentry is “stronger than all of the Avengers rolled into one.” Taskmaster could have been killed or deleted or sent to the void or whatever is going on here with just a thought.
We’ve got plenty more on the latest goings on in the MCU after what’s been an eventful week, including our thoughts on whether Marvels’ Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement just spoiled Thunderbolts.
Marvel and Robert Downey Jr. have teased they’re not done revealing the Avengers: Doomsday cast either, so perhaps there’s hope yet for poor Taskmaster.
We don’t have long to find out. Thunderbolts* comes out in May 2025, TV show Ironheart is out in June, and Phase 6 kicks off with The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July. Avengers: Doomsday is currently set to arrive in theaters on May 1, 2026, and Secret Wars arrives about a year later in May 2027.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
