Earlier today, a first look at Bullseye's new costume was revealed in the latest batch of Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 set photos. However, upon closer inspection, we see a noteworthy link between Dex and Black Widow's Taskmaster.
While Bullseye's helmet is very clearly inspired by Daredevil's cowl, there's a small camera right in the middle of the white bullseye logo. It's seemingly identical to the one on Taskmaster's mask in the 2021 movie, creating an interesting connection between the former FBI agent and the now deceased Red Room assassin who was gunned down by Ghost in Thunderbolts*.
Taksmaster used the camera to study how her opponents moved, later replicating their fighting styles to better serve her in battle. That's not one of Bullseye's skills, so what's it doing there?
Well, with Dex now working for Mr. Charles—who reports to CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine—it seems likely that the camera is being used to keep an eye on the unhinged vigilante.
As the diner scene in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 proved, Bullseye is incredibly deadly, and while this version of the character isn't the killer of innocents that his comic book counterpart is, Mr. Charles needing a way to rein him in makes a lot of sense.
Crucially, this means Bullseye can be directed at specific targets and, given that he has opaque white lenses in his mask, chances are he'll have a HUD of some sort that makes him even deadlier...and how much do you want to bet that we get some killer POV scenes while he's doing his thing?
There have been rumours for a while about Taskmaster and Bullseye somehow being linked, and it seems Val is using some old Red Room technology to make Dex an even more formidable weapon for the CIA. Some fans have even speculated that he could take over that mantle, but after her unceremonious death in Thunderbolts*, it seems Marvel Studios is eager to move on from the poorly received villain.
As we head into Avengers: Doomsday and near the end of the Multiverse Saga, we still don't know what Val's endgame is. She's tried getting her hands on Vibranium, sent Yelena Belova to kill Hawkeye, and successfully created one of the world's most powerful super soldiers in The Sentry.
Is she after power, or could the CIA Director be the MCU's next big bad? We'll have to wait and see, but her being pulled into this street-level world may be bad news for Daredevil and the Defenders.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 premieres on Disney+ next year.