The last episode of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is a clear “set up” episode of the series. First, and most prominently, the episode set up the finale and the battle between Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who is clearly going to be the new Captain America, and Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), aka Flag-Smasher. And, as many fans were excited to see, the episode set up Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a new MCU addition, named Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. While her intentions aren’t clear, judging by a recent interview with Marvel.com, ‘Falcon’ producer Nate Moore wants fans to know Valentina isn’t just a random character that is showing up for no reason. She’s going to be a face you probably will see quite a bit of.
In the episode, we are introduced to Valentina when she meets John Walker (Wyatt Russell) outside of a hearing where he is officially stripped of the Captain America title. In that scene, she doesn’t reveal her shady MO, but she is obviously recruiting Walker for…something. And in that way, Moore says, she’s a bit like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), a mainstay in the MCU.
“Whenever we talked about Valentina, even in the writer’s room, she was sort of a more acerbic, funnier, but darker Nick Fury,” Moore said. “Someone who knows her secrets, who’s not afraid to operate in the moral gray area, but maybe who isn’t as inherently altruistic.”
He added, “Having a character like Valentina in the show, and actually in the MCU, is really interesting because I think she’ll be making more waves sooner rather than later.”
The “sooner rather than later” is seemingly confirming the reports that Louis-Dreyfus will make an appearance in “Black Widow” this July. Again, we really don’t have any confirmation what her role in the MCU is going to be in the future, but comic book fans have been putting the pieces together and think this only points to one thing—the Thunderbolts.
The Thunderbolts are a Marvel Comics team that has had a few different iterations over the years. But most recently, the team has been seen kinda as a Marvel equivalent to DC’s Suicide Squad, a team of anti-heroes (or villains) that do the jobs that the nice, beloved heroes would never do. In that way, John Walker (who in the comics is also referred to as US Agent) is perfectly suited to be a member. And if the “Black Widow” rumor pans out, then perhaps Valentina will recruit Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), which would also make sense.
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This hypothesis is further supported by the comments made by another ‘Falcon’ producer, Zoie Nagelhout, who teased something more with Valentina, specifically when it comes to her meeting with John Walker. She said the scene between the two characters is “the beginning of something.”
Obviously, at this point, the Thunderbolts theory is just speculation, however educated it might be. We’ll really begin to see the bigger picture when we see the end of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” which has a finale that debuts on Friday. And of course, we’ll know for certain if Valentina shows up in “Black Widow,” when that film debuts on July 9.