Marvel Studios is finally ready to reveal to fans who exactly is Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the mysterious Marvel Cinematic Universe character and current director of the CIA.
Where did Valentina Allegra de Fontaine first appear in the MCU?
Louis-Dreyfus first appeared as Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and returned for a quick cameo in Black Widow (both 2021), where she was shown attempting to get John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova/Black Widow (Florence Pugh) to work for her. She then had a supporting role in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which revealed that Val is the ex-wife of Martin Freeman’s Everett K. Ross, as well as the new director of the CIA.
However, Thunderbolts* will mark Val’s biggest role yet in the MCU. “It’s a completely different beast,” Louis-Dreyfus told Entertainment Weekly. “This movie’s a real opportunity for me to really explore the Val character. You really get to know what she’s made of, and even a lot of her backstory. She’s in it to win it.”
The actor continued, “You’re going to see her entire plan unfold. It has a lot of mystery to it and there’s some twists and turns that you don’t see coming, which are the best kind. There’s a lot of suspense, which is very groovy.” Louis-Dreyfus also shared that Thunderbolts* will reveal “some of her earlier schemes” that predate the events of the upcoming movie, which she believes will give fans “a better understanding of why she behaves the way she does.”
Yet, despite the titular team being comprised of anti-heroes and reformed villains, Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t feel that Val represents either category, with the actor choosing to come up with her own label for the character. “Her intentions aren’t necessarily pure. You’ve got hero, you’ve got anti-hero, you have villain…is there such a thing as an anti-villain?” she asked.
Louis-Dreyfus’ Val is believed to be responsible for bringing together the titular team, although trailers for the movie have suggested that it was done only to have them eliminate each other. Besides Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Russell’s U.S. Agent, the initial lineup for the Thunderbolts team includes Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost.
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The rest of the Thunderbolts* cast includes Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry, Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel, Chris Bauer, and Wendell Edward Pierce, with the latter two’s roles currently undisclosed. Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz are expected to reprise their respective roles as Bill Foster and Melina Vostokoff from Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Widow.
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is scheduled to open in theaters on May 2, 2025, as part of Phase 5 of the MCU.
