Warning: This post contains Black Widow spoilers.
The Black Widow post-credits scene includes a surprising appearance, and here's an explanation of who Valentina is and why she's with Yelena Belova. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been waiting for a Black Widow movie ever since Scarlett Johansson first played Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2. It took Marvel Studios almost a decade to decide to make the film, which now serves as a prequel in the MCU timeline following Natasha's death in Avengers: Endgame.
The majority of Black Widow takes place in 2016 immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War. It follows Natasha as she's on the run and faced with the reality that the Red Room is still active. Her quest to bring it and Dreykov down brings her back into contact with her original spy family: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). They devise a plan to free the other Widows in the Red Room from Dreykov's mind control and bring down his entire operation, and Black Widow ends with them successfully doing so. This results in Natasha saying goodbye to her family again as they go their separate ways, but Black Widow's post-credits scene shows Yelena visiting her grave after Avengers: Endgame.
As Yelena mourns her fallen "sister," she's joined by another character at the cemetery. Audiences are sure to recognize Julia Louis-Dreyfus but only some might know who her character, Valentina, is. Louis-Dreyfus already appeared in the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but she'll be a new character to those who haven't watched the Disney+ series and aren't familiar with Valentina's comic book history.
Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine is a Marvel character rooted in the spy and secret organization side of the comics. She has ties to SHIELD and having various positions there over the years. This includes becoming the leader of SHIELD's Femme Force, an elite group comprised entirely of female agents. She was later reassigned to become SHIELD's liaison in the U.K., where she helped Union Jack and other superheroes per the organization's orders. Her time with SHIELD also made her a close confidant of Nick Fury, although she also routinely flirted with Captain America to make others jealous.
But, Valentina is also known as Madame Hydra. She secretly joined Hydra in the comics and is one of many women to take on the Madame Hydra identity. Her time with Hydra saw her manipulate the organization to take the Box from Silver Samurai. However, Valentina's allegiance is always aligned with her best interests first and foremost. This led her to betray Hydra and join the Russian secret organization known as Leviathan. Valentina's actions started a war between Hydra and Leviathan, with Nick Fury also intervening. This led to Valentina eventually surrendering, being put in prison, and then joining JANUS after she was freed.
As mentioned before, Valentina's presence in Marvel comics goes back to 1967, and the comics have fleshed out much of her story in the decades since then. Valentina's origin is tied to Leviathan, as she and her parents were secretly sleeper agents for the organization. Dum-Dum Dugan had no clue of Valentina's true allegiance and recruited her to join SHIELD. It was early on in her training to become a SHIELD agent that she first met Nick Fury and defeated him in hand-to-hand combat. Valentina rose quickly through SHIELD's ranks and caught the eye of Fury even more. The two of them started a romantic relationship that was not the healthiest. It is after the relationship ended that Valentina took on more responsibilities with SHIELD until the organization was disbanded.
Valentina doesn't have any superpowers per se in the comics, or in the MCU as far as we've seen. The comic version of Valentina is an expert hand-to-hand fighter, marksman, and strategist. The two appearances by Valentina in the MCU haven't shown whether or not these attributes apply to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her history as a spy and skills as a manipulator does seem to have transferred to the MCU, though, given how she's been portrayed so far.
Moviegoers are just now having the chance to meet Valentina, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus made her debut as the character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier earlier this year. The original plan would've seen Black Widow's post-credits scene be the first appearance of Valentina and then re-appear for a small appearance in Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan's Disney+ series. This all changed due to COVID-19 and Marvel Studios being forced to delay Black Widow more than a year. The end result was Valentina making a surprise appearance in Falcon & Winter Soldier episode 5. It was here that she recruited John Walker (Wyatt Russell) to work for her. She then returned for Falcon & Winter Soldier's finale, where she gave John the U.S. Agent suit and referred to Baron Zemo as a friend.
When Valentina first appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it was believed that John Walker was her first recruit. But, Black Widow shows that this isn't necessarily the case. The post-credits scene indicates that Yelena has been working for Val for a while. While the scene isn't timestamped to confirm exactly when it takes place, Yelena visiting Nat's grave presumably happens shortly after Avengers: Endgame. Since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes place months after the epic blockbuster, John Walker isn't even on Val's radar at this point. This makes Yelena the oldest recruit of Valentina's as long as there aren't more secret members of the team she's assembling.
Valentina's allegiance in the MCU is currently unknown. Since she has ties to SHIELD, Hydra, JANUS, Leviathan, and more in the comics, Marvel Studios has plenty of options to choose from. It is safe to assume that SHIELD is off the table since the organization no longer exists in the MCU. Valentina could be behind the return of Hydra or be a key player in introducing Leviathan. There's also the possibility that Val isn't working for one of these secret organizations at all. She could have her own plan and agenda, or perhaps she's working for someone even more powerful in the MCU, such as Thunderbolt Ross or Norman Osborn.
No matter who Valentina is working for, it is clear that she is building a team of her own. John Walker and Yelena Belova being her only two known recruits is a fascinating start, as it gives her morally grey versions of Captain America and Black Widow. The two most popular suggestions for the team Valentina is creating are the Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts. Either team would work given the current setup, but Dark Avengers seems more likely given the early recruits. The Thunderbolts are typically reformed villains or villains in hiding. As Valentina continues to build her team throughout the rest of Phase 4, it should become more clear exactly who Yelena is working for by the end of Black Widow.
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