Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Boy #2!
There is at least one MCU villain Captain America respects in the comics – the Taskmaster’s turn in the Black Widow movie received a largely negative reaction from Marvel fans, because the character’s depiction differed so greatly from that of the comics, where he commands respect from some of the world’s top superheroes.
Spider-Boy #2 – by Dan Slott, Paco Medina, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – features brief, but notable appearances from both Taskmaster and Captain America.
In the course of their cameo, Steve Rogers noted that he holds a degree of respect for the Taskmaster.Taskmaster holds the unique distinction of being a supervillain who has earned complimentary words Captain America – not for his actions or his intentions, but for his abilities. This makes the character’s translation to the screen even more apparent as one of the MCU’s few stumbles, as the character deserves to be a much more potent adversary for Marvel’s cinematic heroes.
Captain America Thinks Taskmaster is an A-List Villain
Following the release of Black Widow, many MCU cited Taskmaster as a mistake that MCU’s Thunderbolts will need to fix. Spider-Boy #2 put the fledgling hero in the middle of an altercation between Captain America and Taskmaster, who is on a mission to acquire a piece of Avengers tech called the Super-Adaptoid, which is a robot that can copy any superhero’s superpowers. Considering the nature of Taskmaster’s abilities to mimic anyone’s skills just by watching them, this would give the supervillain the ultimate upgrade. Spider-Boy is ready to lunge into action, but Captain America advises against it, ordering the young crimefighter to stay on the sidelines.
Steve’s reason is that, like Spider-Man, he does not want Bailey putting himself in danger with any A-list villains. As Captain America’s states, “Taskmaster is as A-list as they come!” As Spider-Boy badmouths Taskmaster during this one-on-one fight, Cap advises that he not underestimate Taskmaster, even further complimenting him by calling the villain a “one-man army“. Taskmaster has long been a formidable opponent for various Marvel heroes, but in recent years – and especially in the wake of Black Widow’s tepid audience response – it seems as though the character has been sidelined. This acknowledgment from Captain America in Spider-Boy #2 is possibly an attempt to reverse that course.
Taskmaster Is Currently Underestimated In The Marvel Universe
In Spider-Boy #2, Captain America gives Taskmaster the most glowing review that anyone in the Marvel Universe has given him in ages. For that review to come from the definitive Avengers leader helps elevate the character tremendously. Taskmaster is in need of such a reintroduction. He hasn’t been used to his full potential as an antagonist, and deserves to be. The villain is overdue to regain his prestige in the Marvel landscape, especially as the ending of Spider Boy #2 teases more to come from him. If a Marvel hero is needed to sell Taskmaster’s legitimacy to readers, and other heroes alike, Captain America is the perfect one for the job.
Spider-Boy #2 is on sale now from Marvel.
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