Hobbes she's a main character, of course they're completely done with her. That would be a big brain move.
She probably got a paltry sum of money compared to the 50 million she was seeking but at least she got her role in Tower of Terror and the paycheck that brings.
I never liked citing unofficial sources as fact until it's confirmed, at least without saying "it's rumored..." or something in my statement.
I finally put this on while putting ornaments up on my Chrsitmas Tree (Been behind on movies and holiday prep, been that type of year,). Took a while to get into, but the family dynamic proved fun once that was put together. I had the unique outlook of watching this after finishing "Hawkeye", so Yelena continues to be one of the best parts through the whole thing. Spoiler Dreykov turned out to be one of the most morally despicable villains in the MCU to this point, not bad for a character that had no singular counterpart in the comics. Like some fans pointed out in the webs, the whole thing did remind me of the M.Bison/Vega plot with Cammy and The Dolls from the Street Fighter universe universe, but I highly doubt we'll get that in film. Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was a nice surprise in the stinger, despite already knowing how "Hawkeye" ended up. I'm not totally convinced she's Madame Hydra yet since I'm an old enough comic fan to be more familiar with her as an enigmatic S.H.I.E.L.D agent and major Nick Fury supporting character, but time will tell what the MCU crew ends up establishing her as. I'll probably finish "Shang Chi" while finishing Christmas Eve prep since at this point, it's the last MCU media I haven't caught up with.
On Valentina Spoiler considering that Hydra infiltrated SHIELD in the MCU there's nothing stopping her from being part of both. Especially since she looks to be building an MCU version of the "Dark" Avengers.
Spoiler Probably, besides being used to pre-M.H. Valentina, I think I'm just also willing to leave Hydra in the past as preference since Red Skull, Zola and Strucker are all gone (maybe Skull can come back, but who knows at this point), and their whole S.H.I.E.L.D. takerover plot's been played out years ago. There's nothing exciting to look forward to with them without some major overhaul unique to the MCU IMO. Maybe it could be a new organization from the comics making a premiere in the MCU and the double agent/defection origin is just inspired by the Madame Hydra twist. I guess time will tell.
