Julia Louis-Dreyfus teases Thunderbolts* will finally reveal Val’s master plan

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has played Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a handful of projects, but the upcoming Thunderbolts* will finally provide a few answers about the character’s master plan.

“It’s a completely different beast,” Louis-Dreyfus told Entertainment Weekly about how Thunderbolts* compares to her previous MCU appearances. “This movie’s a real opportunity for me to really explore the Val character. You really get to know what she’s made of, and even a lot of her backstory. She’s in it to win it.“

She continued, “You’re going to see her entire plan unfold. It has a lot of mystery to it and there’s some twists and turns that you don’t see coming, which are the best kind. There’s a lot of suspense, which is very groovy.“

In addition to Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the film stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. Geraldine Viswanathan will make an appearance and replace Ayo Edebiri, who was originally attached. Lewis Pullman is also on board as The Sentry, taking over for Steven Yeun, who was cast in the role before he had to depart.

Although Val has assembled these anti-heroes, she’s not exactly Nick Fury. “She is about four steps ahead all the time, or at least she thinks she is until she’s not,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “All of these characters have worked for her under certain circumstances, so she would fancy herself as a bit of a puppet master, and she’s very power-hungry. She’s a user of anti-heroes. She definitely sees herself as the leader, the organizer of this group, but I’m not sure they see her as such.” The actress continued, “Her intentions aren’t necessarily pure. You’ve got hero, you’ve got anti-hero, you have villain…is there such a thing as an anti-villain?” Val has previously appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Thunderbolts* will hit theaters on May 2, 2025.