Marvel Studios always has a plan. Phase 5 is already showing that thanks to Corey Stoll’s return inAnt-Man and The Wasp: Quantumaniaafter almost a decade, and the steady introduction ofJulia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine throughout Phase 4. While Louis-Dreyfus has only been making appearances in the post-credits scenes and cameos in the likes ofBlack WidowandThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she is about it make her first big impact as part of theThunderboltsmovie, and she is coming to kick ass.
Ahead of herThunderboltsappearance, Val made her most recent cameo inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, when she was revealed as the new director of the CIA. Having seen the character build herself a team of broken anti-heroes and Avengers, Louis-Dreyfus is ready to take on her biggest Marvel role to date and she made it clear that she won’t be just sitting in the background. Speaking toVariety, when she revealed that filming onThunderboltsbegins in June, she said:
“I actually pitched it. I told them I really, really want to fight. We’ll see if that happens. I haven’t seen the script yet. There’s so much secrecy around it. When I first started shooting [as Val] I had to go to set wearing a black cloak with a hood and keep my head down so nobody could see it was me walking onto the soundstage.”
One thing that is certain, is that the Contessa will not be a push-over in her next appearance, and evenThaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Fordtaking over from William Hurt, will be answering to her.
Related:MCU’s Thunderbolts: Will Sentry Be the First Villain for the Anti-Hero Team?
What Will Be the Endgame of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val in Thunderbolts?
As one of the movies announced in the latter part of 2022,Thunderboltsis a movie that has been teased in plain sight throughout the last Phase of the MCU.The film will bring together many of those have appeared in the MCU already, such as Florence Pugh’s Yelena Bolova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and potentially others. Exactly what purpose they will be put to by the Contessa is something that is yet to be revealed.
As we are heading into the multiverse with many of the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows, there is almost a splitting of the franchise. On one side is the likes ofLokiseason 2,Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaandDeadpool 3that will all serve the Multiverse Saga, while others likeDaredevil: Born Again, Echo, Captain America: New World OrderandThunderboltscould serve another purpose.
The only thing for certain is that there is a lot to keep up with in the MCU across the next three years, and during that time we are going to be seeing a lot of one Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, but to what end, we can only wait to find out.
