Falcon & Winter Soldier Producers on Julia Louis-Dreyfus Joining the MCU

Falcon & Winter Soldier producers on introducing Julia Louis-Dreyfus to the MCU

Following The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s penultimate episode last week, Marvel fans are still talking about the surprising introduction of 11-time Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) as the mysterious Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (a.k.a. Val). Even though it was only a brief appearance, it was probably one of the biggest moments of the fifth episode, or perhaps the whole series due to the character’s role in the comics and her potential importance in future MCU projects.

Now in a recent interview with Marvel.com, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier executive producers Nate Moore and Zoie Nagelhout have finally opened up about the Veep alum’s introduction to the MCU by praising the incredible depth and range she added to her Marvel character.

“What a gift for us to have her,” Nagelhout said. “She is just incredible. In the initial conversations between her and Kevin [Feige], she was just excited by the idea of joining this world and what it could mean to play a new quirky, weird, mysterious character. And she loved that there was this comedy to it as well because that’s, of course, one of her great strengths. She was the perfect character to bring into John Walker’s world to complicate what he’s going through and give him a weird almost ominous light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Julia has such range,” praised Moore. “She’s only ever been great. There’s something so likable about her that when she does show those darker tendencies to her character, it’s a little bit more surprising and entertaining because you don’t expect it to come from her.”

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Moore also went on to further describe Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina as a funnier but darker version of Nick Fury. He also teased that MCU fans should expect to see more of her character in the future.

“Whenever we talked about Valentina, even in the writer’s room, she was sort of a more acerbic, funnier, but darker Nick Fury,” Moore teased. “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 continued, “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.”

In the comics, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was created by Jim Steranko in 1967. She was known as one of the best agents and leading members of S.H.I.E.LD. due to her impressive talents and skills. After impressing Nick Fury, they eventually became lovers famous for their on-again/off-again relationship. After S.H.I.E.L.D disbanded, the character also went on to secretly join Hydra’s elite council by taking on the identity of Madame Hydra.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is led by Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan along with Captain America: Civil War stars Daniel Bruhl, Emily VanCamp and Don Cheadle, who are reprising their roles as Helmut Zemo, Sharon Carter and James Rhodes aka War Machine respectively. Kari Skogland directs all six episodes of the MCU series from a screenplay written by head writer Malcolm Spellman with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad also part of the series’ writing/creative team.

The sixth and final episode of the MCU series will be available for streaming this Friday on Disney+.