Supervillain Origins: Taskmaster

Supervillain Origins: Taskmaster

How does a hero fight a villain who can predict and duplicate his every move? Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of Tony Masters, otherwise known as the Taskmaster.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen primarily to follow the storyline which unfolded in 1980's Avengers #195-196, which was expanded upon in 2002's Taskmaster Vol. 1 #1 and 4 and in 2011’sTaskmaster Vol. 2 #3-4.

For those who may have wondered where supervillains get all their henchman, Avengers #195-196 provided an answer: from top secret villain training academies run by a ruthless villain named the Taskmaster. The Avengers stumbled upon this revelation by accident, when they were contacted by a young man who told them his life was in danger. When that young man was picked up by workers from the Solomon Institute, a mental hospital, the Wasp was suspicious and followed him.

When the Wasp did not return, the Avengers followed – and discovered that the Solomon Institute was just a front. The real purpose of the Institute was to expertly train villains. Although subduing the principal of the Institute was relatively easy, the Avengers faced more difficulties when they met the real brains behind the academy: the Taskmaster.

The Taskmaster, who spoke with a pronounced fondness for slang, was formidable due to a special ability he called photographic reflexes. With this ability, he was able to observe the movements of another person and, in an amazingly quick time, learn to copy them perfectly. He discovered this power as a boy watching cowboy shows, but he honed his skills when he began watching superheroes at work. He couldn’t duplicate their special powers, but he could duplicate their moves and learn how to predict what they would do in a certain situation.

Eventually, he used his skills to open his string of villain training schools. Taskmaster then proceeded to demonstrate how well he had trained his students – and how good he himself was. He might even have bested the Avengers, if not for the presence of Jocasta, whom he had not yet studied and whose movements he therefore could not predict.
The Taskmaster underwent some changes over the years. By 2002, for example, he had abandoned his street speech for a more elegant way of expressing himself; this was done primarily to make his high end clients feel more comfortable. Readers also learned that Taskmaster had trained with Buddhist monks to learn a special arcane meditation technique that allowed him to slow his breathing and heart rate to survive without oxygen for an extended period of time.

A major revision came about in the 2010-2011 Taskmaster mini-series. It was revealed that Taskmaster, whose real name is Tony Masters, was a former agent of SHIELD. Masters was on a SHIELD mission to take down a mad scientist trying to create a new Third Reich who had developed a formula to enhance short term memory exponentially. Always competitive, Masters injected himself with the serum; this increased his abilities substantially, but severely dampened his long term memory. His wife, Mercedes, who was also a SHIELD agent, worked tirelessly with Tony to help him overcome this new disability. Through a series of complicated maneuvers, she could get him to remember his entire past, including their marriage; but as soon as he used his photographic reflex abilities on a new subject, he forgot his past again.

The Taskmaster has turned up occasionally on television and on DVD, fighting Spider-Man, White Tiger and Captain America. He has also appeared in several video games, including Marvel vs. Capcom 3. With his photographic reflex power, he makes a truly challenging opponent.

Are you a fan of the Taskmaster? For more comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.