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Fictional Women Around the World: Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha, and welcome to stuff
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I've never told your production of I Heart Radio. So
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: welcome to another episode of our segment subsegment, subsubsegment Fictional
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Women around the World. And I'm going to start off
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: right at the top that spoilers. This is a spoiler
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: alert for recent Marvel stuff. Even telling you what it
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: is would be a spoiler, I think, but any recent
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Marvel thing not going in depths but the topic itself. Yeah,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: it's kind of a spoiler in fact, for Samantha, who
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: you have not seen Black Widow yet, have you? Oh? No,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I have not. Yep. It's very brief, it's very minor.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not. It's not really giving too much away. So
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: here's a pause. You can come back later if you
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: absolutely don't want any spoilers of any kind. Okay, I'm leaving, Bye, Smatha.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: You're contractually obligated to be spoiled by me. Okay. For
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: those who are still here today, we're talking about Contessa
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: at Antina el regrad Fontaine, who goes by Val often,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: but she says don't call her Val, recently portrayed in
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Black Widow by
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Julia Louis Dreyfuss. Interesting to think that Black Widow was
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: supposed to come out first, so that should have been
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: our first introduction to her, but obviously things did play
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: out that way, so most people saw her in The
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Falcon in the Winter Soldier first. Also, this character was
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: previously played by Lisa Rinna in live action movie Nick
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Fury Asian of Shield, which I have never heard of,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: and I am shocked that this exists and I didn't
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: know it. Yeah, I don't know if I haven't heard
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: of this either. Yes, I gotta find this. I gotta
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: seek this one out. So from what we've seen in
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the m c U, I'm
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: trying to get better about assuming like not everyone knows
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: everything about the nerd stuff i'd talk about. She seems
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: almost like a chaotic, possibly evil version of Nick Fury,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: assembling a sort of Dark Avengers or Gray Avengers maybe
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: for a mysterious organization that she works for. She certainly
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: seems manipulative and very clever, playing on John Walker, who
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: is kind of the like no good Captain America from
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: The Falcon and Winter Soldier. If you aren't sure who
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: he is. She said things to him like things are
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: about to get weird, so when they do, we're not
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: going to need a Captain America. We're gonna need a
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: US agent. And yes, US agent is a thing in
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the comics, it's like an actual title. And Elena Belovo's
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: a k Black Widow sir get little sister. Valentina plays
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: on her pain and anger and isolation, potentially alliging to
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to both of them to get them to do what
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: she wants. She has access to classified information. She knows,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: for instance, that Walker took the serum to become a
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: super soldier and congratulates him for doing it. She also
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: knows that Clint Barton was with Black Widow when she died.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: From what we know, she seems ruthless and cynical. She
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: tells John Walker she would have killed the flag Smashers too,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and that he would have been doing the US a
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: favor to have killed all of them. And yeah, the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Dark Avengers are a thing in the comics. They're pretty
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: much what they feund like, sort of the anti Avengers
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Bizarrow Avengers. Like every Avenger there's an evil version of
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that Avenger, Like there's an evil version of the whole
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: is like a multi universe thing. No, no, they're I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: mean like we've already been introduced to some of them.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: They exist in the same universe. They're just like an
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: evil team. Um, and they're they're like literally, oh, that's
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the evil version of the Hulk. Oh that's the evil
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: version of Spider Man, like venom is Scorpion anyway, Yes,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the opposite of your favorite Avengers. So you've already got
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: a dark Captain America and a dark Black Widow. I
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: guess um some of Marvel's most infa miss villains ended
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: up in this group. However, because of course things are
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: very complicated in these uh, some people think that this
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: team is going to be more like the Thunderbolts instead,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: which was a team of villains or one time villains
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: assuming new identities to fill a power vacuum left by
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: the Avengers. And this team was originally led by Baron Zimo,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: who is the villain in the Captain America's Civil War
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: and in Falcon in the Winter Soldier kind of a
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: in the mysterious non villain but kind of villain space.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Most people know him because he did that awkward dance
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: that got looped forever. It was good. Yeah, oh yeah,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it was very good. But so the thunderbolts are often
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: called maybe it's not the thunderbolt. One of them is
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: often called, like this, the suicide Squad, like Marvel Universe's
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Suicide Squad. Yeah, got you. Okay, but there's apparently more
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: stuff we know from the comic books. Uh, And what
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: a story it is. As always, when we discus us
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: such a huge and sprawling universe and all over the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: place universe, they can get messy to pinned down. Yes,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: it does. That being said in nineteen sixty seven is
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Strange Tales number one fifty nine, created by writer and
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: artist Jim Stranco in the comics of Valentina claimed to
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: be an Italian noblewoman who was trained in the world
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: of espionage from a young age. Familiar she rose up
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the ranks of Shield and all the way up to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: deputy director under Nick Fury, who, by the way, she
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: had a relationship with. Okay, that was new to know that.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And it gets weirder. She went on to secretly infiltrate Hydra,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: you know, the evil organization that for those out of
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the loop, this part I knew. Becoming Madame Hydra which
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: is not how it goes in the TV version. Turns out, though,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Madam Hydra is like a title. Um, so multiple people
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: have been Madame Hydra. But also I'm pretty sure I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: just read while I was researching this that yes, the
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: show might not be canon anymore, so I don't know
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: things out of cannon. Okay, what weird? Turns Out she's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: actually a Russian triple agent who originally worked for Leviathan,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: a top secret Soviet science and spy organization, before being
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: recruited into Shield as a sleeper agents and then Hydra Lord.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: One of her main goals was helping Leviathan's leader recover
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the ability to create superhumans. She convinced Hydra is still
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: a powerful object called the Box and install it for
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Leviathan before turning herself over and being imprisoned. Uh and
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: then Italian noblewoman thing, an identity given to her and
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: her family by Leviathan. Leviathan recruited her as a child
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: after her parents, also Leviathan agents, were killed by Russian agents. What. Yeah,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: it's a mess, but she's clearly very smart, a great
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: liar and great at reading people. Knows a lot of languages,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you know, the perfect combat and sponnage agent, and of
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: course she fooled Nick Fury. She defeated him in hand
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to hand combat too, which you know, he's getting old
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and I'm pretty sure this Leviathan revealed that she was
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: still working for the Leviathan. Happened in like kind of recently.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I could be wrong, but this was like an ongoing
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Wait she's in Hydera. Oh wait, she's a Leviathan the
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: whole time. Yes, very messy and speaking of, oh my goodness,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: relationship drama aside. So, when Valentina gets jealous of Fury
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: for flirting with an X, she flirts with Steve Rogers,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: a Captain America, which gets her in trouble with her
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: superior at the time, Sharon Carter, and you can see
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: our previous Fictional Women episode for more about her, and
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Fury confronts Captain America about it. Valentina apparently developed real,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: actual feelings for both Captain America and Fury, to the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: point that Nick Fury essentially pushed Captain America out of
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Shield because he didn't like what was going on between
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: him and Valentina. This led to a fight between Fury
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: and Captain America Valentina intervened and forced them to talk
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: out and gone to an understanding. Valentina got back with Fury,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: participating admissions to protect him from assassination attempts. After she
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: learned that Fury had been for many years receiving supplements
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: of something called the Infinity Formula to prolong his life,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: she finds the supplier, blackmailing him by withholding the serum
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: to get the samples herself, and she does this without
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: telling him. After Fury disbanded Shield for being compromised, she
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: hooked up with shields Ci a liaison. Then Fury restarted Shield,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: bringing Valentina back into the agency. After a Furious partner
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: at the time was murdered Um and Valentina's left, the
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: pair got back together. The reason she gave her turning
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: herself over with that whole of Iathan thing was so
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: that Fury would know where to find her. And after
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: helping the manipulating Hydra and Leviathan into destroying each other,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Fury freeze Valentina from prison. And I was like leaving
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff out, And yes, obviously there's a
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: lot of problematic stuff and all of that about her
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: being Nick Fury's girlfriend. Um catfights over men were shared
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Carter men fighting over women. Often her costumes are hyper
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: sexualized as well. Not all the time, but sometimes I'm like,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: whoa where did this come from? Did? Though? I didn't
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: see a tuped up but I saw what looked like
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: kind of like a backless like spent leather, bright shining leather,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: backless like tight jumpsuit sort of thing. Short exactly, I
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: can't answer these questions all right, Well, under Shield, Valentina
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: joined a group called the Film Force, a group of
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: a top female Shield ages led by Sharon Carter. Valentina
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: served as the second in command to keep suspicions off her.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: She did help out Shield a lot with villains like
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Dr Doom and Quartermain. She worked with heroes like a Daredevil,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: and while under mind control, tried to kill Spider Man
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: and Black Widow whoops uh. Some speculate that in the
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: m c U, this character is filling the role of
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: another Marvel character, Valerie Cooper, a government official who worked
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: with superhumans and was responsible for recruiting John Walker. Others
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: have pointed out that in the comics, her character was
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: kidnapped and impersonated as part of the scroll invasion something
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: that could be at play here, especially given the post
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: credit scenes in the most recent Spider Man movie. Yeah,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: so the Scrolls, if you saw, like Captain Marvel, are
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: the sort of reptilian alien race that can impersonate other people.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: And I guess more spoilers, it was kind of revealed
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: that maybe not everyone is who you think they are
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: at the end of the most recent Spider Man movie
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: that some people are Scrolls. So some people think that
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: maybe it's this going on. I personally have my doubts,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: but it could be very well could be. So this
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: character kind of gives me this feeling, as does a
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: lot of phase for that it's a new world than
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: what it was when a lot of these heroes got
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: their start, and that we need to adapt, which in
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: some cases could be good and others could be bad.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: The way she speaks sounds very the ends justify the
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: means to me. The business card she gives to John
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Walker as a white side and a black side, perhaps
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: meeting she sees good and good and bad is like
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: ultimately the same, and or she is willing to cross
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: lines to be on whatever side is winning or serves
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: her best at any given moment, or maybe she just
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: thought it looked cool. It's possible that I'm reading too
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: much into these things. The writers have said that this
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: character is going to have a bigger part to play,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: so we'll see. And speaking of Marvel Villains, Uh, definitely
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: planning on coming back and talking about Ravona Renslayer from
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Loki soon. I know probably a lot of people have
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: questions after that season finale because it just got renewed.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: So yeah, definitely, I'm ready. Lots of things. Oh, there's
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: so many things. Will I ever get to them all?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: That's a great question? Oh gosh, is it is an
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: excellent question? And listeners, if there's somebody you want me
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: to move to the top of the list. If you've
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: got questions about some fictional women, please let us know.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: You can emails that stuff DiDia, mom Stuff I hurt
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: media dot com. You can find us on Twitter at
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: mom Stuff podcast or on Instagram at Stuff I've Never
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Told You. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Oh thanks and thanks to you for listening. Sup one
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: never told you? Protection If I hire radio for more?
• 12:47
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• 12:49
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