Photo Credit: Marvel Studios (via YouTube)
While Marvel’s Thunderbolts* continues to draw praise from audiences and critics alike, a new rumor has emerged that provides insight into a supposedly deleted story arc for Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster. The movie follows the misadventures of a group of former MCU villains who forcefully join hands to partake in a perilous mission, all the while dealing with ghosts from their past. While Thunderbolts* features several prominent characters, including Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, it originally intended to focus much more on Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, according to a recent theory.
Taskmaster’s deleted story arc for Thunderbolts* revealed
As claimed by a renowned internet scooper, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster had a more significant role to play in the original plans for the recently released Thunderbolts*.
@MyTimeToShineHello shared a detailed account of Antonia Dreykov’s reportedly discarded story in the initial version of Thunderbolts*. In their update, the scooper noted how Taskmaster linked up with Yelena and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost in OXE’s Vault Level Five, while following Val’s orders to terminate John Walker. After a brief fight, the group reconciles, with Antonia opening up about her traumatic past, which left her with a patchy memory.
Sympathizing with Taskmaster’s plight, Ghost, AKA Ava Starr, creates a video to help her Thunderbolts* teammate find her way to reality if she gets lost again. Antonia and Ava bond further when the former mentions her father’s history, her life at the lab, and Val’s false promises. Additionally, Taskmaster is the only one who manages to challenge Bucky when the Winter Soldier attacks the gang. She even succeeds in convincing him to join their side after divulging the story of how Val manipulated her.
Moreover, Taskmaster agrees to rescue John Walker and Bob after Val abducts them in Thunderbolts*, and emotionally helps Wyatt Russell’s character to realize his place in the team. In the movie’s climax, she nearly kills Val and even stands up to Lewis Pullman’s Sentry, before escaping the ordeal with her crewmates. As per MyTimeToShineHello, the remainder of the original version of the film proceeds similarly to its theatrical counterpart, but with more involvement from Olga Kurylenko’s character.
The said rendition of Thunderbolts* seems to have allowed Taskmaster to survive, which sits in line with the recent comments made by the film’s co-writer, Eric Pearson.
