The rights to the Marvel Comics villain Taskmaster have been over at 20th Century Fox for some time now, but according to ComicBook.com, the rights have recently reverted back to Marvel Studios. The rights of the character were brought into question during an interview with Deadpool director Tim Miller. When asked what other characters he’d like to see fight Deadpool on the big screen, he said:
“I’d love to see Deadpool fight Batman – no, I’m just kidding, that’s not even in the Marvel family! I’d love to see Deadpool go up against Taskmaster who’s another Marvel total fuckin’ badass. But if I was to stay inside the Fox family, I would like to see him fight X-23, the female Wolverine. The female clone of Wolverine.”
It was that comment of staying “inside the Fox family” that raised some eyebrows. That basically implied that Taskmaster was back over at Marvel, and the site checked with their sources to confirm. The rights to that character reverted back to Marvel Studios at the same time the rights to Daredevil did.
Apparently at one point Fox actually tried to develop a live-action film project for the villain, but it never got off the ground.
Taskmaster is a pretty badass villain, so it would be cool if Marvel actually ended up using him in something some day. He seems like a character they might use in one of their TV or Netflix shows, but we’ll just have to wait and see. For those of you not familiar with the character, here are some details thanks to Marvel:
The man who would become the Taskmaster was born a prodigious savant of mnemonic talents. He discovered his unusual abilities in childhood when, after watching a cowboy television program, he found he could duplicate the rope tricks he had seen the actors perform. Growing to understand his ability, he saw a man perform a difficult backwards leap from a diving board; he duplicated the dive, but nearly drowned because he didn’t know how to swim. Afterwards, his mother called in psychiatrists who studied his ability, terming it “photographic reflexes.” He employed his talent several times during his youth for professional gain, most notably when he became a star quarterback of his high school football team after watching one pro football game. After graduating high school he contemplated becoming a crimefighter, but decided crime would be more lucrative.
Taskmaster possesses photographic reflexes, which enables him to watch another person’s physical movements and duplicate them without practice, no matter how complex. This ability is only limited by the fact that he does not possess superhuman strength or other superhuman attributes.
Taskmaster has made extensive use of video tapes and movies to study the movements of superhuman adventurers, as well as athletes, marksmen, stunt performers, and soldiers. Thus he has gained a wide range of combat and acrobatic skills. These skills include, but are not limited to, all present day and many historical martial arts, boxing, wrestling, swordsmanship, archery, marksmanship, gymnastics, aerial acrobatics and sleight of hand.
Recently it has been discovered that Taskmaster also possesses photographic memory and voice impersonation.