MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR “BLACK WIDOW” AND “FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER”
Had the pandemic not intervened, both “Black Widow” and “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” would have served as the first blocks in Marvel Studios’ ‘Phase 4’ plans to hit the screen.
This is a phase dubbed new beginnings, yet both works each feature an effectively standalone sequence with a character appearing in much the same way Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury appeared in the ‘Phase 1’ Marvel films – albeit a darker mirror of that.
That character is Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, played by “Seinfeld” and “Veep” alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The mysterious woman seems to be on something of a recruiting binge but for what is not clear.
In a recent episode of the D23 Inside Disney podcast (via Collider), Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed that nothing was changed despite the necessary re-ordering, but wouldn’t give away the Contessa’s mission statement:
“Initially Val was supposed to be introduced in the tag of Black Widow. It [the pandemic] actually didn’t change anything based on where you met her first.
She was always going to be a mysterious figure, portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, that stepped in out of nowhere. We just initially planned for that to be in Black Widow instead of [The] Falcon [and The Winter Soldier].
She’s doing something. She’s in recruitment mode. Does Yelena already work for her? They seem to have a connection at that point.”
Feige also said they had been planning to bring the actress into the universe for some time and now that they have, they intend to make good use of her not just in these two outings:
“The future is bright for the MCU because Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in it. We are gigantic fans of her at Marvel. […] The notion of bringing her into the world was always something, if we could find the right thing, we wanted to do. When this role came about and the opportunity to have her in [Black] Widow, in [The] Falcon [and The Winter Soldier], and maybe in some other things coming up…”
When the Contessa could next pop up isn’t clear, though the upcoming “Hawkeye” series seems the most likely place – more so than either the “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” or “Eternals” films.