WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Taskmaster #2, by Jed MacKay, Alessandro Vitti, Guru-eFX and VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now.
Possessing the incredible power to replicate the moves and attacks of anyone he observes, Taskmaster is one of the most formidable mercenaries in the Marvel Universe. In his debut appearance in 1980's Avengers #195 by David Michelinie and George Perez, Taskmaster singlehandedly took down most of Earth's Mightiest Heroes by replicating their moves through his photographic memory and reflexes.
And as the master mercenary goes on a new globe-spanning mission that sets him on some of the most powerful figures in the world, he goes head-to-head with Marvel's analogue to Superman: Hyperion of the Squadron Supreme of America.
After being framed for the murder of Maria Hill, Taskmaster received an offer from Nick Fury to clear his name: Observe and learn how to replicate three different targets, each heading their own intelligence agencies around the world. Among the targets is Phil Coulson, who was resurrected from the dead by Mephisto bearing a grudge against the heroes that he deemed responsible for his death during the 2017 crossover event Secret Empire. To discredit and displace the Avengers, Coulson started his own federally sponsored superhero team, the Squadron Supreme of America. And as Taskmaster is exposed while tailing Coulson, the Squadron's most powerful hero arrives in a flash to stop the mercenary dead in his tracks.
Quickly arriving on the scene in response to Coulson's distress signal, Hyperion beats a defiant Taskmaster within an inch of his life. The government-backed superhero set of superpowers is similar to that of DC's Man of Steel, with the classic version from the main Marvel Universe as the last being from a dying world before arriving on Earth to become its latest superhero. This version of Hyperion is actually a construct designed by Mephisto as part of his resurrection deal with Coulson, but shares the same nominal background as the previous iteration of the hero, including his strengths and weaknesses.
Taskmaster draws from the powers of Hawkeye to constantly barrage Hyperion with a stream of arrows, including several trick arrows that would completely incapacitate most normal targets. While Hyperion is completely unfazed by the arrows as they harmlessly are repelled off his invulnerable skin and Taskmaster gets progressively knocked around, the mercenary quietly unveils his ace in the hole. Just as Hyperion possesses Superman's strengths, he also possesses his weaknesses including his own form of Kryptonite: a solid piece of argonite radiation. While the Thunderbolts' used to keep another Hyperion in line with it, Taskmaster has fashioned it into an arrowhead that intentionally misses the superhero before boomeranging back and striking him squarely in the back.
While Taskmaster allowed Hyperion to beat up on him to lull him into a false sense of security so he doesn't dodge the argonite radioactive arrow with his supersonic reflexes, Fury notes he may have gone a touch overboard with the self-punishment. Regardless of Taskmaster's push to potentially punish himself over sins past, the mercenary has proven himself more than capable of standing up to and outsmarting the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Universe all by himself. But with an attack on Coulson and the Squadron Supreme, Taskmaster may have just incurred the wrath of America's official superhero team as he moves to clear his name. Coulson already has a vendetta running against the Avengers and, after humiliating the heroes in their hometown, Taskmaster may have moved farther up Coulson's hit list.