An official at Marvel Studios has revealed that Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine will be taking over as head of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in March 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was released on Disney+. Yelena Belova’s journey in the Hawkeye series was set up by her in the Black Widow episode. As a result, several speculated that Val would succeed Nick Fury in the role.

According to Collider, Marvel Studios VP of production and development Nate Moore revealed that she is a new leader in the world in the newly published book Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Art of the Series.

Fury is a major staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only did his leadership and encouraging words as the Avengers prepared for combat leave an impression on Marvel fans, but so did his role as director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Moore acknowledged the difficulty of finding a replacement for Jackson, but he deemed them “fortunate” to have landed on Louis-Dreyfus, who gave a terrific performance as Val.

“The Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is a character that has a rich publication history… and to some degree, figuring out who can fill those shoes, which in our mind is in a way taking the reins from Nick Fury, was tough,”

Val’s Role In The MCU

Just what is Val doing, then? One apparent candidate is the Thunderbolts program, which was just unveiled. No information is currently available, but it seems like John Walker, Yelena Belova, Zemo, and others will be joining forces to form their own team of heroic misfits, much like The Suicide Squad.

What does this have to do with Nick Fury and his function in the MCU, though? Samuel L. Jackson’s character has been noticeably missing from recent events, which has left even the actor perplexed.

There’s no telling what will happen in Secret Invasion, but maybe fans’ hopes will be fulfilled and Fury will be promoted to a comfortable post in space. Maybe he’ll have to return to Earth after discovering Val’s dirty tricks. In addition to the recently released The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Secret Invasion is expected to debut on Disney+ in early 2023.