A new teaser for *Thunderbolts* has ignited a lively debate among fans about the fate of Taskmaster after keen-eyed viewers noticed the character's apparent removal from a pivotal scene. Initially, the *Thunderbolts* trailer from September 2024 clearly depicted Taskmaster standing between Ghost and U.S. Agent in the Watchtower scene. However, the latest teaser reintroduces the same scene, but this time, Taskmaster is conspicuously absent.
This omission, coupled with the recent announcement of the *Avengers: Doomsday* cast, which included other *Thunderbolts* characters but notably excluded Taskmaster's actress, Olga Kurylenko, has led many MCU enthusiasts to speculate that Taskmaster might not survive the film. The absence of Kurylenko from the *Avengers: Doomsday* lineup has fueled these theories.
The intriguing question remains: why include Taskmaster in the original trailer only to remove the character from the subsequent teaser? Fans have come up with numerous theories, ranging from Marvel attempting to mislead the audience to adjusting their narrative strategy for *Avengers: Doomsday*. Additionally, a closer look reveals that the positioning of the characters in both frames—the original trailer and the new teaser—is slightly different. This has led some to speculate that Sentry might have 'deleted' Taskmaster from the scene, a power he's demonstrated in other trailer footage. Could Taskmaster have already been eliminated by Sentry at this point, unnoticed by the rest of the Thunderbolts? Or could there be a twist where Taskmaster turns against the team?
"Marvel pretty much just sealed the fate of this character in the movie," remarked redditor Matapple13. "Yesterday they announced Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman in the *Avengers: Doomsday* cast, but Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster's actress) was blatantly absent, and now, Marvel posts this..."
In contrast, another fan, puckallday, suggested a different outcome: "The amount of people saying she's dying and Marvel seemingly leaning into that by barely showing her make me think there's a reveal there with her in the movie and that she lives."
What's undeniable is Sentry's immense power, highlighted in the teaser with Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, stating that Sentry is "stronger than all of the Avengers rolled into one." This statement lends credence to the possibility that Taskmaster could have been easily dispatched or sent to an alternate dimension with a mere thought from Sentry.
The MCU has been bustling with developments this week, including our analysis on whether the *Avengers: Doomsday* cast announcement might have spoiled *Thunderbolts*. Moreover, both Marvel and Robert Downey Jr. have hinted that further cast reveals for *Avengers: Doomsday* are on the horizon, leaving a glimmer of hope for Taskmaster's future.
We won't have to wait long to uncover the truth. *Thunderbolts* is slated for release in May 2025, followed by the TV show *Ironheart* in June, and the kickoff of Phase 6 with *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* in July. *Avengers: Doomsday* is scheduled to hit theaters on May 1, 2026, with *Secret Wars* following in May 2027.
