Annlyel James 
Taskmaster in Marvel Studios' BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Was Olga Kurylenko the wrong age to play Taskmaster? Annlyel takes a deep dive into the history of the MCU villain.
One of the most controversial plot twists in the MCU happened in Black Widow when it was revealed that Taskmaster had been changed into a woman. It was a shocking turn and one that I thought was a brilliant turn of events for not only Black Widow’s story but the character of Taskmaster itself. Suddenly, the brainwashed assassin seemed like a character who would play a much bigger role than expected. But as the months have gone by there is something that I’ve noticed and it’s the casting for Taskmaster.
We learn that behind the mask is none other than Oblivion’s Olga Kurylenko. When I learned she was in the MCU I was more than thrilled but there’s a bit of a complication. Marvel Studios is known to hire actors somewhat close to the characters they play. Olga Kurylenko is 42-years-old. Antonia, judging from the flashback, seems to be maybe ten years old when Natasha Romanoff blows up the building with Antonia and General Dreykov in it. This seems to be maybe, at most, three years before the events of Iron Man 2.
So…if we do the math, the events of Captain America: Civil War, take place six years later. That means Antonia should be nineteen-years-old in Black Widow. Uh-oh.
AGE CRISIS?
Clearly, Kurylenko is not the appropriate age for the role but I do believe she is going to do a great job playing the character for the foreseeable future. This was simply an observation that I noticed and wanted to share.
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Did you spot the age gap in Black Widow? Are you a fan of the new-look Taskmaster? Leave a comment in the section below.
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely that of the author and do not reflect the overall opinion of thefutureoftheforce.com, its writers, or affiliates.
Annlyel James is a Senior Correspondent of The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter where she channels the Force frequently!
