Thunderbolts* might be one of the best-reviewed MCU movies in recent times, but one death keeps upsetting fans.
Olga Kurylenko reprised her role as Antonia Dreykov (aka Taskmaster) in the Marvel movie, only to be killed in her first scene. The actor got one line of dialogue before her character was murdered during a fight against Ava Starr's Ghost.
New behind-the-scenes photos show Kurylenko's impressive make-up, which is making fans even more disappointed with the decision to kill off her character so early in the film.
"She showed her face for like 2 seconds for absolutely no reason," said one fan on Reddit, commenting on the newly released pictures.
"I really feel sad for Olga," added another user, "She's a great actress, but they've done her dirty in Black Widow and Thunderbolts. Hoping to see her, but 99% sure they'll reboot Taskmaster after Secret Wars."
"I really liked Thunderbolts, but I’ll go to my grave believing that killing her off (especially that quickly) was a mistake," argued another fan.
Not everyone sees Taskmaster's early death as a problem. According to one Reddit user, it is the whole point of the movie.
"The movie is about people reckoning with their baggage and the destructive lives they've been leading," they argued. "Her being snuffed out so unceremoniously is to show what could happen to any one of them if they don't make a change in their lives."
Following the film's release, screenwriter Eric Pearson revealed that Taskmaster originally had a much bigger role in the Marvel movie. In the final draft of his script, she survived for the whole movie, was the center of "a pretty big subplot," and bonded with Ghost.
"On the comedy side, she was struggling with her own memory loss stuff, and there was a gag where she just kept restarting the fight and forgetting that they had made up and become friends," Pearson added.
Somewhere along the way, things changed, to Pearson's surprise. Director Jake Schreier talked exclusively to GamesRadar+ about this "big decision" and why it was necessary.
"We felt like a movie like this needed something like that, where you're like, 'Okay, if they'll do that, they could do anything,' you know, and you don't really know exactly where the thing is going to go. It needed a bit of shock or surprise."
Thunderbolts* is now available to watch on Disney Plus. For more, read our Thunderbolts* review, and check out all upcoming Marvel movies.
