10 Marvel Duos Who Will Never Meet In The MCU
8. Taskmaster And Crossbones
One
of Captain America’s darkest and most fearsome foes, Brock Rumlow led a life of
crime from a young age. Modelling himself after his hero the Red Skull, he led the
neo-Nazi youth gang the Savage Crims, before being taken under the wing of Taskmaster,
the skill-mimicking mercenary, and trained to become a lethal assassin known as Crossbones.
Crossbones appeared as a secondary antagonist in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War, portrayed by Frank Grillo. His origin story forewent any association with Taskmaster or his training school – instead Rumlow was injured during the Helicarrier battle before re-emerging as Crossbones, a freelancer. He was killed in an explosion during the opening of Civil War.
The MCU’s interpretation of Taskmaster appeared years later in Black Widow, set just after the events of Civil War. The character is depicted as the daughter of general Dreykov, disfigured and rendered mute after being caught up in Black Widow’s attempted assassination of her father.
A far cry from the snarky, hot-headed Taskmaster of the comics, and much more student than leader, the altered canon won't allow this Taskmaster to train Crossbones in an academy.