Marvel president Kevin Feige confirms Julia Louis-Dreyfus will return in the MCU as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine: 'She's in recruitment mode'

• SPOILERS: There will be light spoilers for Black Widow  so read on at your own risk

Marvel Cinematic Universe  fans were given quite the surprise towards the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's six-episode run when Julia Louis-Dreyfus made her MCU debut as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

The actress also put in a cameo appearance in the new Marvel movie Black Widow, which has lead fans to wonder if she'll be back in future MCU movies or TV shows.

During an appearance on the D23 Inside Disney podcast, Feige made it clear fans have not seen the last of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the MCU.

The character was created by Jim Steranko in 1967 and ultimately became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent under Nick Fury.

She was previously portrayed by Lisa Rinna in a 1998 TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, alongside David Hasselhoff as Nick Fury, which was intended to be a back-door pilot for a TV series though it never moved forward.

Louis-Dreyfus first appeared as the character, also known as The Contessa, in the fifth episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

She also appeared in the finale, where she tells the failed Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell) that people she works for may have a use for him, as she re-brands him as 'U.S. Agent.' 

She also appeared during a post-credits scene in Black Widow, where she tells Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was responsible for the death of her beloved 'sister' Black Widow.

'She’s doing something. She’s in recruitment mode. Does Yelena already work for her? They seem to have a connection at that point,' Feige hinted.  

Feige added, 'The future is bright for the MCU because Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in it. We are gigantic fans of her at Marvel.'

'The notion of bringing her into the world was always something, if we could find the right thing, we wanted to do.”

'When this role came about and the opportunity to have her in [Black] Widow, in [The] Falcon [and The Winter Soldier], and maybe in some other things coming up…,' Feige teased.

Feige didn't mention specifically when we'd see The Contessa again, though it seems likely she'll appear in the studio's upcoming Hawkeye series.

The show follows Clint Barton and his protege Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who took over as the new Hawkeye after Barton in the comics.

Florence Pugh has long been confirmed to return as Yelena Belova in Hawkeye, so it seems clear they will clash at some point in the series.