Julia Louis-Dreyfus is all set to reprise her Marvel role, the spy Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the MCU’s upcoming Thunderbolts film. Louis-Dreyfus has already played the character thrice, making her debut in the Disney Plus series Falcon and the Winter Soldier and appearing in a cameo in Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The character of Valentina de Fontaine is quite popular in the Marvel comics and is currently a part of the Thunderbolts comic run. However, the storyline in the comics has revealed that the ‘real’ de Fonatine has been dead for a long time and that the person in the comic at the moment is a ‘Life Model Decoy’. This will have a lasting impact on her film appearance.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine In The Comics
The character of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was introduced in the Marvel comics back in 1968 and was created by Jim Steranko. The character has a long relationship with the secret agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Having lost her parents due to their support of a resistance movement in Italy, de Fontaine decides to join the agency to contribute to the world.
Valentina has a long relationship with Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. She quickly rises through the ranks in the agency, starting out as an agent and leading her own Femme Force. She is a huge part of the comic storyline Secret Invasion, where a Skrull posing as Valentina extracts information from Nick Fury before he finds out the ruse.
Recently, Valentina de Fontaine has been seen teaming up with the Thunderbolts. She embarked on an adventure with a team formed by Bucky Barnes to defeat the Red Skull and while attacking his fortress, she is pinned down by one of the guards. She then reveals that she is not Contessa Valentina but a Life Model Decoy of her.
She reveals that she has been dead for more than eight years in a Russian Gulag and that a decoy version of her was created by the ‘Gods of the Twentieth Century’. She then proceeds to reveal canon from inside her face and shoots the guard point blank. The reveal that Valentina is dead has major implications for both the comics and the MCU.
How Does Valentina De Fontaine’s Death Affect Her Upcoming Film?
Marvel President Kevin Feige announced in 2022 that the studio would be making a Thunderbolts film, with Jake Schreier of Paper Towns fame set to direct the film. According to Variety, the cast includes Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Hannah John-Kamen. It also includes July Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina de Fontaine.
Valentina’s appearance in the MCU’s Thunderbolts will be interesting as she has now been revealed to be long-dead the comics. The MCU’s Valentina de Fontaine is currently the director of the CIA and has been well-connected with heroes such as Bucky Barnes and Yelena Belova. Will the Thunderbolts film go the comic route and kill her off and replace her with a robot?
Valentina has an interesting history with the characters in the Marvel universe and killing her off before exploring them would be a wasted opportunity. However, the twist is interesting in how her character will be interpreted in the films and in future comics. The comics also see her as an agent of Hydra and the Soviet espionage group Leviathan.
