Many expect Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to play a large role in the Multiverse Saga ever since her appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There have been rumors that she will be appearing in Secret Invasion to establish her connection to Nick Fury – until now.
Secret Invasion director Ali Selim quickly put the rumor to rest. The director insists that Contessa Valentina, one of the most noteworthy villains in the Multiverse Saga, will not be part of the ongoing Disney+ series.
During an interview with SFX Magazine, Selim said that having Julia Louis Dreyfus’ character appear in the show was never considered. For the director, cameos are less important than the overarching plot to the story of Secret Invasion.
“Those things on the internet are quite funny. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is not in the show… I’m not sure how that ended up there!” Selim said. “It’s all about surprise, intention and reveal, and repeat. I hope there’s a lot of that in there. But in terms of cameos, that’s less interesting to me than the heart of the story, which I think we really found, and the heart of that story is: ‘Who can you trust?'”
Contessa Valentina would have been a very interesting addition to the cast and plot of Secret Invasion. The CIA director is known for being morally ambiguous nature which would be right at home in the Disney+ series about the shape-shifting Skrull. Director de Fontaine wouldn’t have been as subtle in handling the alien invasion as Nick Fury.
In Marvel Comics, Contessa Valentina had ties to Nick Fury as she was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Italy. She quickly rose through the ranks and became a partner to Fury in his war against Hydra before it was revealed that she was a double agent of the villainous group all along.
However, in the MCU, she is portrayed as the Director of the CIA and ex-wife of Everett Ross in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She is responsible for turning John Walker into the supervillain “U.S. Agent” and hiring Yelena Belova to assassinate Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine will next be appearing in Thunderbolts. According to reports, she will be assembling a team of antiheroes and villains to perform a mission that the Avengers would not. She will be joined by Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross who is reportedly the new president of the United States of America.
Secret Invasion is available for streaming on Disney+. Thunderbolts is coming to theaters on December 20, 2024.
