Julia Louis-Dreyfus Compares Her Marvel Cluelessness To Doing Her Taxes, Because Of Course

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Black Widow
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Julia Louis-Drefyus is one of the most celebrated comedic actors of our time, with a whopping 11 Emmy wins for her roles in projects like Seinfeld and Veep. She joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Phase Four, with small but memorable roles in Black Widow, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and most recently Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Despite this, she recently compared her Marvel cluelessness to doing her taxes. Because of course she has a hilarious way of looking at it.

After her aforementioned appearances in the MCU, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is going to have her first starring role in the upcoming villain-centric blockbuster Thunderbolts. She recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she was asked about this highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie. When asked if she was more of a hero or villain, Louis-Dreyfus revealed just how confusing the shared universe really is to her. In her words:

I think she sort of straddles both worlds of good and bad. I think it’s a little bit unclear. It’s certainly unclear to me. When they were telling me about this, the head honchos at Marvel, they’re all wonderful people, and they were explaining to me the character and who she’s gonna be dealing with and this universe and that universe and I’m listening, listening — I’ve had a similar experience as when I’m listening to my accountant tell me about my taxes. I’m trying really hard to focus, you know what I mean? But anyway, I just keep asking my boys, explain to me what this means.

Well, that was hilariously honest. Leave it to the comedy legend to have audiences in stitches, while explaining exactly how she’s approaching her growing role as the MCU’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. But smart money says her understanding becomes deeper as they finally begin filming Thunderbolts

Given how behemoth the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become over the last decade and change, you can’t fault Julia Louis-Dreyfus for being a little bit overwhelmed. After all, it’s been over a decade of movies and TV projects. And since she was asked to pop into multiple properties throughout Phase Four, it was no doubt disorienting trying to keep track of the shared universe’s contents and her character’s intentions. You can watch Louis-Dreyfus’ utterly delightful appearance on Kimmel below:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus admitted that her character Valentina operates in the morally gray, rather than being a hero or a villain in the MCU. As such, it should be fascinating to see her dynamic in Thunderbolts, and how she presumably helps to lead the team of antagonists on a mission for the US Government. Is she the MCU version of Amanda Waller? Only time will tell.

What To Know About The Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Director: Jake Schreier

Writer: Eric Pearson

Cast: Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebasian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen. 

Release Date/Platform: July 26th, 2024 in theaters.

Of course, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has also been keeping busy with projects outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She’s currently promoting her role in Netflix’s new comedy You People, which also stars Eddie Murphy. Other titles include upcoming titles You Hurt My Feelings and Tuesday. Still, Marvel fans are excited to get more of her on the big screen.

Thunderbolts will arrive in theaters on July 26th, 2024, so production should presumably begin sooner rather than later. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.