Secret Invasion: Why Val is definitely a Skrull in MCU

Modified Dec 02, 2022 11:07 IST

Marvel’s Phase 4 brought in a ton of new characters, and the same is expected out of Phase 5 projects like Secret Invasion. It is one of the first few projects to begin the next phase and will surely bring in a few new faces to turn them into Skrulls. But one seemingly obvious character who could turn out to be a Skrull is Val.

Contessa Allegra Valentina de Fontaine, aka Val, is a character that almost nobody seems to be talking about. She made her debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and then continued with another similar cameo in Black Widow. She is proving to be a new Nick Fury-like persona who will go on to form the Thunderbolts. But it is likely that she will show up in Secret Invasion too.

How Val is connected to Secret Invasion

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Image via Marvel)

For those unaware of her backstory in the comics, Val was a triple agent who started off as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Dum Dum Dugan was the one who hired her, and she rose up the ranks very quickly. She went on to have a romantic relationship with Nick Fury and was even involved with Captain America at one point in time.

When Fury was driven underground, she became S.H.I.E.L.D.'s liaison to the U.K. and helped other superheroes like Union Jack. However, her time in S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t last long. In the Dark Reign comic run, she posed as Madame Hydra. But she never truly believed in Hydra’s agenda. Her goal was to sabotage the organization. So, she did exactly that.

Val then moved on to represent the body she originally swore allegiance to. She and her parents were sleeper agents of the Russia-based villainous organization, Leviathan. Hailing from Leviathan, Val also had connections to Russia’s Red Room program. While it is possible that Leviathan will be brought into the MCU with Val, our theory is she’d be one of the Skrulls instead.

She was a quadruple agent in a way that after the Secret Wars event, she was also replaced by a Skrull imposter in the Secret Invasion comics run. And that’s what might happen in the MCU.

Why Val could be a Skrull in the MCU as well

The whole point of the Secret Invasion storyline is for evil Skrulls to infiltrate Earth by replacing high-ranking individuals on the planet. That’s exactly what is expected to happen in the upcoming Secret Invasion series as a bunch of evil Skrulls will be exposed by Nick Fury. But how does that connect to Val?

Well, it has become fairly easy to predict her Skrull reveal after Black Panther 2.

In the comics, a Skrull agent posed as Val and got close to Nick Fury so she could spy on him and learn as many secrets as possible. Fury obviously caught her. But the point to note is that she could easily be revealed as a Skrull imposter in the upcoming projects. Before Wakanda Forever, nobody was really sure of her position. But now she has been promoted to director of the CIA.

She seems to be playing a Nick Fury-like role in assembling the entire Thunderbolts lineup. But, being the director of the CIA, she also has access to some of the most highly guarded secrets on the planet.

That’s a very strong position for a Skrull to be in. Hence, it is likely that she could be revealed as a shape-shifting alien in the future.

Since Secret Invasion is close to its release and while Val still has to appear as a protagonist in Thunderbolts, her Skrull reveal could come in Secret Invasion season 2. Whether she is a good Skrull like Talos or an evil one remains to be seen. But the possibility of her being a Skrull imposter just can’t be denied.

Edited by Upasya Bhowal