We were promised a big cameo appearance for episode 5 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and sure enough, this past Friday's penultimate instalment of the Disney+ series introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (you can call her Val for short... but only in your head).
Madame Hydra, as she's been known in the comics, introduced herself to a dejected John Walker after he was stripped of the mantle of Captain America, seemingly paving the way for him to become U.S. Agent. It was only a brief appearance, but the Emmy Award-winner certainly made an impact.
Louis-Dreyfus has yet to comment on her MCU debut, but Russell was asked about working with the actress during an interview with Esquire, and is very much looking forward to sharing the screen with her again.
“It'll be endlessly interesting because she's endlessly interesting," said the actor. "I think people are going to think one thing and get a little bit of another because she's such a great actress and you've seen her do feats for the past, however many years. This is a very different type of character for her. I’m excited for whatever comes with that. I don't know. I have no idea what's going to come of it, but I hope something does. It would be amazing to work with her."
The prevailing theory is that the Contessa will ultimately be revealed as the mysterious Power Broker, and enlist Walker for a team of her own. The character was actually supposed to debut in Black Widow as a "dark" counterpart to Nick Fury, which would seem to suggest that she's planning to assemble a group of super-powered individuals for some nefarious purpose.
The Thunderbolts, perhaps? That's certainly one possibility, but we'll have to tune in for next week's season finale of TFATWS to see if we're given any more hints relating to Val's MCU future.