WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Widow, now in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.
Taskmaster is one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe due to his photographic reflexes. They allow him to mimic any fighter's movements almost instantly, with the same level of precision. The character's first appearance in Black Widow brings these skills to life on the big screen when facing Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and her allies. However, certain aspects of the character's abilities have already been used by Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War, making the armored Avenger the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first unofficial Taskmaster.
Captain America: Civil War is a film that carries a lot of weight in its arguments over obeying the law versus doing what feels right. This tension puts Captain America and Iron Man at odds and ultimately cultivates in a one-on-one brawl between the two over the life of Bucky Barnes. As Steve fights to defend his friend, Tony battles for the memory of his parents, who he discovers were victims of the Winter Soldier. As brutal as the fight is, it becomes evident that Tony needs assistance to overpower Steve.
As Captain America continues to lay the hits on Iron Man, the film drives home the notion that advanced technology has nothing on experience. To that effect, Tony takes matters into his own hands and his suit's artificial intelligence, F.R.I.D.A.Y., analyzes Cap's fight patterns. With the analysis complete, Tony can predict Steve's movements and react in a way that stops his onslaught of fists and puts him on the ground in a span of seconds. Similar technology and logic are seen in the first battle between Taskmaster and Black Widow.
In Black Widow, Natasha is ambushed while laying low after the events of Civil War. Instead of facing off against a traditional special operations agent, she runs into Taskmaster. At first, she attacks with her standard training, but after her classic scissor kick move is mimicked, it becomes clear that Taskmaster is unlike anyone she's ever faced. The scene also reveals a heads-up display analyzing Romanoff in a manner similar to how Iron Man tracked Cap's fight patterns.
There's no denying that Taskmaster's skills are natural, but it's equally plausible that the villain's mimicry extends to technology with a HUD that is eerily similar to Iron Man's. Tony never uses this particular feature in future fights. Still, like all other aspects of the MCU, there is a degree of connectivity showing how Tony may have influenced Taskmaster's technology.
Tony Stark is a capable fighter, but he's nowhere in the range of Taskmaster. That being said, a skill like photographic reflexes needs to be cultivated to be perfected. Utilizing elements from Stark's unique HUD could've helped Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) on her journey to becoming Black Widow's version of Taskmaster. So from that perspective, it's not all that strange that Stark and his technology have become an unofficial precursor to Black Widow's nemesis.
Taskmaster made her debut in Black Widow, which is now in theaters and streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access.
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