Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s Valentina will impact the MCU "sooner rather than later"

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine might be quite a mouthful – but it’s a name we’re going to have to get used to saying. Falcon and The Winter Soldier executive producer Nate Moore has teased the wider impact she’s about to have on the MCU-at-large in a new interview on Marvel’s official site.

"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," Moore said.

With Val – played by comedy legend Julia Louis-Dreyfus no less – reaching out to John Walker (Wyatt Russell) with a blank business card and a promise that she’ll be in touch, there’s every reason to believe the Contessa is setting the scene for her own superpowered supergroup.

Couple that with the original plans for Val revolving around an appearance in Black Widow, then it certainly appears (if there was ever any doubt) that Louis-Dreyfus isn’t going to be a one-and-done walk-on role.

But it’s not just a starting point for Valentina. John Walker’s future foundations also lies in that chance meeting during Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s fifth episode.

"It's the beginning of something," producer Zoie Nagelhout said. "John is really excited because he is someone who needs to have a purpose. He needs to feel like he has a place in the world. He needs to feel like he has direction and ambition. There's a catharsis to that [meeting] for him."

Whether it’s setting up the Thunderbolts or something even more sinister, Val might just be to Marvel Phase 4 what Nick Fury was to the MCU’s genesis all those years ago.

Find out more about Valentina with our complete character guide to the mystery newcomer.