Black Widow’s biggest red herring says it was “fun” to be the subject of fan theories

“I've never been part of so much speculation,” he tells RadioTimes.com now. “I think the main thing I took away from that is that this is the foreplay of the movie.”

Specifically, fans theorised that his character “Mason” would be revealed as the film’s ultimate villain Taskmaster, a deadly fighter sent to take down Scarlett Johansson’s titular hero. The truth is? Mason never even goes near Taskmaster, and in the finished film itself there’s no suggestion of any connection between the characters, even as a misdirect.

So what was it like to be a red herring, however unintentional? To find out we caught up with O-T last week to talk stunts (or lack thereof), online message-boards, the future of Mason and whether his status as a fan theory favourite was really such an accident after all.

So, O-T – what’s it like to finally see Black Widow make its way into the world?

It's a lot of things, bro! But the main thing I think I'm taking away from it is that, people are getting to get into cinemas again. It’s good to have this communal experience of watching stuff together. And that's the bit I think I'm really excited about being part of.

For many people, this will be that first communal narrative experience in a year and a half.

You play Mason in Black Widow – for anyone who hasn’t seen the film, how would you describe your character?

I would say Mason is like the fixer. The person who like sorts out Natasha with all the bits and gadgets that she needs. Bit like Q, you can say, apart from there's more flirting? Yes. There's like a bit of a backstory there. And that's how I would describe it!

Was it easy to develop that kind of chemistry? And did you guys actually work out what that backstory was? Or did you kind of just go from the script?

The chemistry was au naturale. We did spend time looking at the backstory and talking about what you think the details of our history are, because there's a lot of subtext there. And so we both were on the same page about that.

Mason also has background in the comics, the son of a supervillain – were you aware of that?

Look, I've got a terrible memory, to be honest. But what I remember of it is I kind of asked ‘Is this the Mason from the...’ And they were like ‘Mmmmmmmm yeah,’ so I took that to mean, just do your thing bro! And so I did.

I think Mason’s quite unusual in a Marvel movie because he’s quite separate from the action - you only meet a couple of other characters, and stay in one location.

Yeah, I mainly got to work with Florence and Scarlett, and yeah, it was it is weird, not being part of it. But the same thing happens for me in Handmaid's, you know, because my character lives in Canada, while all the rest of the skullduggery is going on in Gilead. So I'm used to it. Black sheep of the family, you can call me.

Were you disappointed not to get any action scenes of your own?

Huw, I'm going to be honest with you. When someone calls you up and is like, ‘I'm gonna need you to go and be in a Marvel movie and flirt with Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, and get to work with Florence Pugh.’ You don't look that gift horse in the mouth. You don't start going poking holes in it going 'yeah, but I really...' No! you're like, take your gift and get out of here man! I'm just walking in gratitude.

Because he’s a slightly low-key character and quite mysterious, before the film came out a lot of people thought Mason would be revealed as the movie’s villain Taskmaster. Was it weird from your perspective? Because it’s not a spoiler to say… he’s not!

Yeah, it was a bit weird. It was fun. I've never been part of so much speculation. I think the main thing I took away from that is that this is the foreplay of the movie. You know what I mean? Like this is when people get warmed up and they're thinking about it.

The theorising and speculation is almost as much a part of it, you mean?

Yeah, I guess so. I guess I’m not a big online blogger type person, you know, but it looks amazing. I love subcultures, and it seems like a subculture which would be so fun to get into. Because you just got all these characters and you have different theories on it. You know, who's the strongest? Who's the strongest Marvel character? Thor, because he's a God. Someone just told me that, by the way.

And within that you were almost an unintentional red herring, in that you kind of directed people a certain way, without meaning to.

Well, yeah. I mean, I guess so. I did think at a point, because I wasn't involved in a number of the adverts or the trailers before release, I thought 'Oh maybe for the novelty, maybe they figured out that they want to intentionally like, set you know, people askew.’

Ah, I don't wanna do any spoilers. Maybe I am Taskmaster!

Who’s to say? I will say, Mason seems like a character who could return – is that on the cards? Any more films or shows on your contract?

A number of questions there that I want to answer a broad, 'bring Mason back' to all of them. I definitely see how he can. Start the hashtag – it’s on you!

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Black Widow is in cinemas and is available on Disney Plus Premier Access now. Check out our dedicated Movies page or our full TV Guide for more.