Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Black Widow.

Black Widow brings Taskmaster, the master of all weapons and fighting styles into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while also giving the character a new secret identity and backstory. The actor playing Taskmaster was kept a closely-guarded secret in the lead-up to Black Widow's release, and a third act twist reveals how Taskmaster is connected to the red in Natasha Romanoff's ledger.

In Marvel Comics, Taskmaster was a man called Tony Masters who was born with the uncanny ability to duplicate any skill or action he saw, from lassoing to high school football. He briefly considered using his skills to become a superhero, but realized that being a supervillain was far more lucrative. To train for his newly chosen career, he studied news broadcasts of every major superhero - from Spider-Man to Captain America - until he could perfectly recreate their fighting styles.

Related: Black Widow: Taskmaster’s Identity Twist Explained

In Black Widow, Taskmaster is revealed to be Antonia Dreykov, the daughter of Red Room overseer General Dreykov. When Natasha defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. she gave the all-clear for Dreykov's offices to be blown up, despite the fact that young Antonia was in the room. The death of Antonia haunted Black Widow for many years, but when she learns that Dreykov survived the attack and confronts him in the new Red Room, he thanks her for the "gift" she gave him all those years ago. Taskmaster takes off their helmet, and underneath is the scarred face of Antonia, now an adult and Dreykov's deadliest weapon. Antonia Dreykov a.k.a. Taskmaster is played by actress Olga Kurylenko, who is best known for playing Camille in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.

Antonia Dreykov takes off her Taskmaster mask In Black Widow

Kurylenko also starred alongside Tom Cruise in the 2013 sci-fi movie Oblivion. She played Soviet pianist Maria Yudina in Armando Iannucci's historical satire film The Death of Stalin, and more recently had leading roles in thrillers Sentinelle and The Bay of Silence. Kurylenko doesn't have many lines in Black Widow, on account of the character being severely injured in the explosion and then pieced back together and placed under her father's control. However, she could return in a future MCU entry, and perhaps even become a superhero instead of a villain.

At the end of Black Widow, Taskmaster is freed from her father's brainwashing and escapes with the rest of the Widows from the Red Room, as well as Red Guardian, Melina and Yelena. Despite her condition, Antonia appears to have developed a close bond with Lerato (Liani Samuel), the Widow who teasingly tells her to "smile" while she's wearing the Taskmaster helmet, and holds her hand at the end of the movie. It would be interesting to see how Antonia will integrate with the rest of the Widows now that they've been liberated, and whether or not she'll continue to embrace her identity as Taskmaster.

More: Black Widow: All Easter Eggs, MCU Connections & Hidden Details

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