Author: Trafficblast

With the release of Marvel’s Black Widow movie, we finally know the answer to the film’s biggest mystery: Who is Taskmaster?

Warning: full spoilers for Black Widow ahead!

We’re going to recap everything we learned about this new MCU version of Taskmaster, explain the character’s big twist, and compare the movie version to the very different comic book version.

Be sure to check out our Black Widow review!

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Taskmaster’s Identity in the Comics

If you’re a Marvel Comics reader, then you probably expected Taskmaster to be mercenary Tony Masters, a gifted fighter with the natural-born ability to mimic the fighting style of anyone he sees.

Taskmaster first debuted in 1980 as a tricky Avengers villain and went on to become a combat instructor hired by both villains and heroes. That’s why he often shows up in Marvel video games, to test the player with various challenges and give them a hard time along the way. He’s known for being pretty snarky.

But the MCU threw most of that out the window and gave us a brand new take on the character.

(For a full breakdown on Taskmaster’s comic book origin, powers, and history, check out our Taskmaster explainer!)

Taskmaster’s Identity in the MCU

After pursuing Natasha Romanoff throughout the movie, Taskmaster is finally revealed to be Dreykov’s daughter, Antonia Dreykov, played by former Bond actress Olga Kurylenko.

This twist created a brand new iteration of Taskmaster completely unique to the MCU. This version still had the power of mimicry and the signature skull look, but underneath things couldn’t be more different.

As it turns out, Black Widow’s final mission in her defection to SHIELD was to kill the leader of the Red Room, Dreykov. We learn this was the mission in Budapest referenced back in the first Avengers movie. (“Just like Budapest all over again.”/”You and I remember Budapest very differently.”)

For this mission, Natasha and Clint Barton rigged bombs to take out Drekov. Tragically, Nat used young Antonia as a way to get to Drekov and coldly considered her to be “collateral damage” when she seemingly died in the blast meant for Dreykov. Little did she know, Drekov survived, and he saved Antonia’s life so she could one day return… with a vengeance.

After Nat “completed” that mission, she shot it out with the Hungarian Special Forces and hid out with Hawkeye for 10 days before successfully escaping (Nat brought Yelena to their old hideout in the train station ceiling to evade Taskmaster) and starting her career as a SHIELD spy and eventually becoming a founding member of the Avengers.

Suddenly the scene from Avengers where Loki brings up Drekov’s daughter as a way to spook Natasha makes a lot more sense. (“I’ve got red in my ledger. I’d like to wipe it out.”/”Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov’s daughter?”)

Meanwhile, Dreykov put Melina’s mind-control technology to use on Antonia, completely reprogramming her brain by putting a chip in the back of her neck and turning her into what he considers his greatest weapon: a powerful assassin capable of fighting like Earth’s mightiest heroes. This Taskmaster became his tool reserved for high priority missions, and we saw that Yelena defecting with a batch of Mind Control Cure-All and sending it to Natasha called for Drekov to activate the Taskmaster Protocol.

This is a huge departure from the comics, where instead of being a mercenary and teacher with his own free will, Taskmaster was a mindless drone programmed to execute orders with brutal efficiency. Based on what we saw in the movie, it seems the MCU Taskmaster is far stronger than the one in the comics. Comics-Taskmaster was essentially a normal guy with slight enhancements, whereas movie-Taskmaster completely clobbered the super-powered Red Guardian and went undefeated the entire movie.

And on that note, Taskmaster proved to be too much for Natasha, leaving her bruised and beaten after their battle on the bridge. It wasn’t until their reunion on the flying Red Room fortress that Natasha learned the truth, and then she made it her mission to save Antonia.

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The End of Taskmaster’s Story

At the end of the movie, Natasha uses her signature leg-twirl attack to remove Taskmaster’s helmet, allowing her to give Antonia the antidote and deliver the good news that her father, the man who turned her into a mindless killing machine, was finally gone for good. Antonia then joins the escaping Widows and Natasha’s family, where she’ll get to start a new life of her own.

On a thematic level, this somewhat absolves Natasha of her greatest regret, killing a child to gain her own freedom, and gave her a chance to redeem herself, at least on some level, by freeing Antonia from her father’s control and giving her a second shot at life. This doesn’t exactly remove all that red from Natasha’s ledger, but she at least got rid of some, like with a Tide Pen.

We don’t know where Taskmaster went with Nat’s family, but it wouldn’t surprise us to see her pop up again in another MCU movie. (We know how Marvel works, it’s practically a given at this point.) Perhaps when we meet her next, she’ll be a mercenary training others to fight like the Avengers. Then she’d live up to the Taskmaster name and become a little more like the fan-favorite comic book version.

It’s also a possibility that she will join whatever sort of Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts team that is being put together by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. We saw the Contessa recruit Yelena in the Black Widow post-credits scene, so why not Taskmaster? Taskmaster’s intricate knowledge of the Avengers’ fighting styles and the inner workings of the Dreykov’s Red Room spy network would be of great value to someone like Valentina.

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For more on the film, check out our Black Widow post credits scene and ending explained or dig in on the history of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Henry Cavill has been dying to share an observation for quite some time now. A noted nerd within Hollywood circles — Cavill is famously a fan of both The Witcher games and the books — he couldn’t resist comparing an element of the Kaer Morhen set from The Witcher Season 2 with Warhammer.

“There’s been something I’ve been dying to say… Every day on set, this set, I was grinding my teeth because there was no one who would know the reference that I’m about to give you,” Cavill said shortly after the big Witcher Season 2 teaser trailer was shown. “That chandelier looks like a Blackstone Fortress.”

In case you’re not aware, Cavill is referring to a specific alien starbase from Warhammer 40K. In series lore, a Blackstone Fortress is a weapon used both by the Imperium of Man and the forces of Chaos, and sure enough, the chandelier really does look a lot like one of the ancient fortresses. Cavill, it should be noted, has talked about painting Warhammer figures in the past.

Cavill’s Warhammer shoutout drew appreciative responses from fans on Twitter, some of whom immediately requested that he play Warhammer on video. Netflix Geeked also posted the shot and asked fans to help Cavill feel seen by liking the image.

please make Henry Cavill feel seen and like this post if you understand him saying this looks like Warhammer’s Blackstone Fortress #WitcherCon pic.twitter.com/hQCboPNTgp

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) July 9, 2021

The reference was nothing new for Cavill, who relentlessly pursued the role of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher television series even after initially being turned down. In the course of the nearly hour-long interview, he related how his father got him into video games, bragged about his RTX 3090 graphics card, and just did everything possible to remind people that, yes, he is quite a nerd.

When he wasn’t shouting out tabletop wargaming, Cavill was talking about his portrayal of the White Wolf, revealing that he wanted the taciturn monster slayer to be “more verbose,” as well as how we wanted to portray his bond with Vesemir, who in series lore is Geralt’s father-figure. “We worked with each other a lot to try to create a bond between the two… Not so basic, like ‘ugh ugh men, we do this and we kill stuff.’ We wanted it to be sensitive, because I believe real men are sensitive.”

He also contrasted his portrayal in Season 2 with Season 1, “I played the Season 1 way deliberately, which was him out in the wilds and without the opportunity for vast swathes of dialogue. I thought it best to be the man who says less because that seems like he’s thinking more. And that was the intention with that. But once you get into a scenario with Cirilla, and the Witchers and his home space and with those people who he already knows, I was of the opinion that you had to let him be verbose and be philosophical and speak more and be intellectual, because that’s what he is. He’s not just a big old white-haired brute.”

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Alas, Cavill has some disappointing news: Geralt won’t be taking any of this famous baths in Witcher Season 2. There will, however, be “plenty of man flesh to be observed,” Cavill says.

Cavill’s interview capped off the WitcherCon stream, in which CD Projekt and Netflix came together to reveal the Witcher Season 2’s release date, show off the latest teaser trailer, and swap stories about the games. Cavill also talked about his own history with the games, confessing that he still hasn’t played through the expansions. The good news is that he’s in for a treat whenever he does play the Witcher 3 expansions, since they are very, very good. CD Projekt will also be releasing a next-gen update later this year for PS5 and Xbox Series X featuring in-game items from the show.

As for The Witcher Season 2 on Netflix, it will be releasing on December 17. You can read lots more about what was revealed at the inaugural WitcherCon right here.

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Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Netflix used its WitcherCon streaming event to announce that its hit adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy series will be returning for Season 2 on December 17.

The streaming giant also released the first teaser trailer for the new season, which follows the adventures of Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia as he tries to protect Princess Cirilla of Cintra from both external threats and her own growing magical power. So let’s dive into the trailer for hints about what’s to come, drawing from what we know from books. Consider yourself warned that potential spoilers will follow!

Click through the gallery below or read on to find discover all of the secrets, theories, and details you might have missed from the Season 2 trailer:

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(0:01) The first scene shows Cirilla and Geralt sitting under a tree in the snow. Ciri asks Geralt “So, I’m your destiny?”, a reference to her becoming his ward due to the Law of Surprise. Geralt was told in Season 1 that Ciri was his destiny, and despite multiple attempts to keep the two of them apart, they finally united in the final episode. Now Geralt is making good on his promise to keep the princess safe. 

(0:06) Geralt responds to Ciri’s question by saying, “You’re much more than that, Cirilla.” Ciri isn’t just important to the Witcher but to numerous other factions as the heir to Cintra and a Source, someone capable of extremely powerful and destructive acts of magic. The “much more” line is also a reference to the short story, titled “Something More,” written by Sapkowski.

(0:14) Here Ciri is riding Geralt’s trusty steed horse Roach with the cloaked witcher walking alongside her. “I need to understand some things,” she tells him, potentially preparing to ask questions about her mysterious brooding protector or the abilities she manifested a few times in Season 1.

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(0:19) Geralt tells Ciri that, “The world is changing. Cintra isn’t safe for you anymore,” as we see him walking through the snow with bandaged legs and his sword in hand, looking down at a body. With most of Cintra murdered by the Nilfgaardian Empire, which is still hunting for Ciri, this seems like a bit of an understatement.

(0:28) Ciri and Geralt journey to Kaer Morhen, the mountain stronghold where Geralt and the other witchers of the School of the Wolf trained. In the book, Geralt brings Ciri to his former home to enlist his brothers’ help protecting her and to train her to protect herself.

(0:32) Geralt is welcomed home by the few other Witchers who are left. They’re gathered in Kaer Morhen’s dining room, a location that also appears in The Witcher video game. (0:35) This is our first look at many of the new characters this season including Basil Eidenbenz’s Eskel and Paul Bullion’s Lambert, who gives Geralt a big hug. (0:38) Eskel, seen wearing the same wolf amulet as Geralt plus a pretty mean scar, seems a lot more dubious of Ciri’s appearance, interrupting her having what looks like a nice glass of wine by asking, “Who the hell are you?”

(0:39) Geralt is doing some furious sword training, really teaching those wooden stakes a lesson. This seems like a reference to The Witcher 3 where you learn the game’s controls by taking him through a training session at Kaer Morhen.

(0:41) We see Ciri twitching in her sleep with Geralt watching her while the voiceover says, “Sometimes I feel so afraid.” In the books, Ciri’s power afflicts her with terrible nightmares and Geralt eventually recruits the sorceress Triss Merigold to help soothe them.

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(0:45) Here’s a showcase of some of the many impressive weapons stored in Kaer Morhen, including swords seen in The Witcher 3.

(0:50) Ciri tells Geralt, “I feel like I could burn the whole world,” and he seems understandably pretty nervous about that. We’ve already seen some of what happens when her power is unleashed and it’s devastating. A Source doesn’t have control over magic the way a sorcerer does, but can destroy an entire town if they panic.

(0:53) Geralt tells Ciri that, “Facing your fear is not easy, but I am here for you,” and hands her a wooden training sword. In both the book Blood of Elves and The Witcher 3, Geralt trains Ciri in the ways of a Witcher and she becomes a very impressive warrior. But first, she’s going to need to ditch that lovely pearl-embroidered gown and fur coat for something more functional.

(1:00) But Geralt doesn’t want Ciri to think she can fight her way out of most situations, warning her that, “When I say run, you run.” The warning is imposed over what appears to be a harpy shrieking through the sky plus a man underground drawing a sword. This could be the first look at Rience, a mage and assassin tasked with finding Ciri.

(1:05) Here a wounded Geralt, sword in hand, comes crashing through the gates. It’s unclear if he’s running from something or away from it.

(1:07) These are a variety of witcher medallions not just representing the School of the Wolf but other factions such as the School of the Gryphon. This could be a tribute to fallen Witchers at Kaer Morhen or something more sinister.

(1:08) Ciri is seen stopping a group of women from fleeing. Judging from the way they’re dressed this might be taking place at one of the brothels that Geralt frequents. 

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(1:18) Geralt is seen doing some more training, and presumably, the equally white-haired man at the forefront is his mentor Vesemir. Mark Hamill had been rumored to be up for the role of Vesemir but ultimately actor Kim Bodnia took the part. Geralt mentions that Vesemir says that the world outside these walls is a dangerous place and that certainly seems to be the case judging from the montage that follows. We see Geralt looking spooky under the influence of one of his enhancement potions, a town square decked out with black banners showing the Great Sun of Nilfgaard, and what might be a ghoul in the snow. 

(1:26) Geralt assures Ciri that she can find power and purpose and we see them using a variety of tools from the mundane to the magical ahead of a shot that seems to be Geralt and Vesemir standing back to back to face some threat.

(1:30) More than halfway through this trailer we finally get a look at the outcome of the Battle of Sodden Hill with Tissaia De Vries surveying the many casualties. Both she and Geralt seem to be looking for Yennefer, who disappeared after unleashing the full force of her chaos to protect her fellow sorcerers from being annihilated by Nilfgaard.

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(1:34) A voice asks Geralt, “What if your princess is more than you bargained for?” over another set of rapid-fire clips showing him fighting — still with that bandaged leg —  and Ciri meeting a woman in the woods who lowers her hood to reveal red hair. Triss has red hair in the games, though it’s brown in the show’s first season. Considering mages can change their appearance, it’s possible her look has changed a bit too. In the book, Triss loses most of her hair in the fire at Sodden, so this could be a result of magical healing. Triss serves as a secondary mentor for Ciri in the books, coming to Kaer Morhen to teach her skills like the Elder Speech and how to use cosmetics.

(1:39) Triss also has a romantic fling with Geralt, though he rejects her for Yennefer. That might be their hands intimately meeting here.

(1:36) For something completely different here’s Jaskier living it up and sporting a very jaunty cap and purple outfit that makes him look much more like his game equivalent. By The Blood of Elves, Jaskier aka Dandelion has become a pretty famous bard trading off tales of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, but that fame comes with some very unwanted attention.

(1:51) A sort of post-logo stinger, here’s the Nilfgaardian mage Fringilla looking just a little worse for wear after Sodden says welcome back to Yennefer, who is lying under a tree. Has Yennefer been captured? We’ll likely have to wait until December 17 to learn more.

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What did you think of the new trailer? Let us know in the comments. And for more on Season 2 of The Witcher, check out the seven-episode titles for Season 2, the first image of a terrifying new monster, and our Witcher reading guide.

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Samantha is a freelance reporter and reviewer with a passion for both digital and tabletop RPGs. She’s also a member of the Critical Hit podcast.

Netflix has pulled the plug on another show. As reported by Deadline, the streamer has quietly canceled the fantasy series Cursed after only one season. The cast has been released from their contracts to pursue other opportunities, effectively killing any potential for a continuation.

Cursed was adapted from the illustrated novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler. Based on the legend of King Arthur, the show followed Nimue, a young woman destined to become the Lady of the Lake. The series starred 13 Reasons Why actress Katherine Langford. Both Wheeler and Miller co-executed produced the series, while Wheeler also served as showrunner.

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Cursed debuted its first — and now only — season on July 17, 2020, almost one year ago. While the series spent its premiere date in the number one spot on Netflix’s Top 10 section, it seems that it did not draw enough eyeballs for the streamer to justify a second season.

The cancellation comes only one week after Netflix pulled the plug on four of its comedy series, The Crew, Country Comfort, Mr. Iglesias, and Bonding. Last month, Netflix canceled its superhero show Jupiter’s Legacy, an adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s comic series of the same name, after only one season.

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In our review of Cursed Season 1, IGN gave the series a 5, saying that “almost every aspect of the series is timidly recycled from Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, without half the impact.”

For more about Netflix’s cancellation habits, read our explainer on why the streamer terminates shows so quickly and the limitations of fan campaigns’ attempts to revive canceled series. To update yourself on every TV show ending and cancellation announced to occur in 2021, read our regularly updated rundown.

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J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

After helming Jojo Rabbit and the upcoming soccer comedy Next Goal Wins, Taika Waititi is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor: Love and Thunder. The director has teased that his follow-up to 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok is “the craziest thing [he’s] ever done.” In a recent interview with Empire, Waititi expanded on what he meant by that statement.

“I’ve done some crazy shit in my life. I’ve lived, like, ten lifetimes. But it’s the craziest film I’ve ever done,” Waititi said. “If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn’t make sense… It’s almost like it shouldn’t be made. If you walked into a room and said, ‘I want this and this and this.’ Who’s in it? These people. What are you going to call it? Love And Thunder. I mean, you’d never work again. Maybe I won’t after this.”

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While plot details are still under wraps about Thor: Love and Thunder, the film will mark the return of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, a character who has been absent from the MCU since 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. The narrative will involve Foster becoming the new goddess of thunder. The cast also includes other MCU mainstays, like Chris Pratt’s Star Lord and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, as well as franchise newcomers. Russell Crowe will play Zeus, while Christian Bale will play the villainous Gorr the God Butcher.

While Waititi struck a different, more comical tone from other MCU movies with Thor: Ragnarok, the director assured that Love and Thunder would have a mood all its own.

“It’s very different from Ragnarok,” Waititi said. “It’s crazier. I’ll tell you what’s different. There’ll be far more emotion in this film. And a lot more love. And a lot more thunder. And a lot more Thor, if you’ve seen the photos.”

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Thor: Love and Thunder wrapped filming last month, with Waititi announcing the end of production through a post on Instagram. The film is set to hit theaters on May 6, 2022. For more, read our rundown of the release dates for every announced MCU project.

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J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entetainment writer.

If you want a bigger tease for what’s to come in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, the upcoming expansion to the critically acclaimed MMORPG, you got one through the newly revealed PC benchmark sequence. During the latest Live Letter from the Producer, Square Enix showed off the benchmark which contains snippets from new zones and battles from Endwalker and have some story implications for the expansion. You can watch it in the video below.

The benchmark sequence shows battles between tempered beasts and Garlean Empire soldiers on a snowy field with the Warrior of Light intervening. It then takes you through the new major hub area of Old Sharlayan with Alphinaud wondering about before meeting with the Warrior of Light. Things kick up with a major battle in the ruins of Garlemald between many tempered beasts and an alliance of familiar faces like the main characters from Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the leaders of FFXIV’s various regions. You then get a taste of the new, colorful open zones of Thavnair as various flying mounts head towards one of those ominous towers that appeared in the patch 5.5 story quests. The benchmark concludes with a major battle against longtime villain Zenos yae Galvus with Alphinaud and Alisaie by the Warrior of Light’s side, which also shows off some skills from the new Reaper and Sage jobs.

Of course, FFXIV benchmark sequences aren’t always entirely indicative of what’s happening in the story–the Shadowbringers benchmark setup scenarios to simply test your PCs capabilities rather than showing off actual in-game events. However, these are accurate representations of the new regions and zones coming in Endwalker, and a tease of what kinds of battles we could be fighting in the expansion.

Endwalker (aka FFXIV 6.0) will conclude FFXIV’s ongoing Hydaelyn-Zodiark story arc which has been going since the game’s inception. A new story arc will pick up after the conclusion of Endwalker. For a summary of the biggest additions coming with the expansion, be sure to read up on on everything we know about FFXIV Endwalker.

FFXIV Endwalker launches on November 23 this year for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. Those who pre-order can get early access starting on November 19.