Halloween Costume Guide
Val runs a shadow black ops company called O.X.E. while simultaneously serving as CIA Director, and her primary tool is handing blank business cards to people whose careers have just ended in public. The fitted trench coat is the most important item in this build. Without the purple hair detail, the costume reads as high-end spy rather than this specific character. Val debuted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and appeared most recently in Thunderbolts*, a 2025 MCU film (Wikipedia). Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Val, is a multiple Emmy Award winner for Seinfeld and Veep (IMDb). People who have watched the Disney+ Marvel shows will place her immediately. A general party crowd will see a very well-dressed spy.
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The trench coat is what reads first, and fit matters more than anything else here. A correctly fitted long black coat with the belt visible underneath creates the silhouette. An oversized trench turns the whole build into autumn fashion. The burgundy gloves are the second most specific detail, and skipping them is the most common failure point. Without the purple hair, the character disappears into generic spy territory regardless of how good the coat looks.
Val sits across from John Walker in a public park the morning after he killed a man on camera in front of witnesses. She leans forward and tells him he made exactly the right call, that the serum makes him very valuable to certain people. She hands his wife a blank business card. She is entirely warm. She means every word. Her agenda only becomes clear much later, and by then she has already moved on to the next recruit.
Apply the Purple Hair Before You Leave
Temporary purple spray transfers for the first 30 to 40 minutes after application. Apply it at home so it dries before you put the coat on. Position the streak near the front of the hair so it reads from a normal conversation distance. Buried under the rest of the hair, it only shows up in photos.
The Blank Business Card Prop
Print or cut a plain white card with nothing printed on it. Val hands one out in every MCU appearance she makes. At a party it either gets immediate recognition from Marvel fans or it generates a question that lets you explain the character without being the person who explains their costume unprompted.
Couples Idea
Excellent dynamic pulled directly from the MCU. Val is the composed handler in a fitted trench coat, Yelena is the assassin who eventually figures out she is being used as a disposable asset. The visual contrast between the two looks is substantial, and anyone who has watched the Disney+ Marvel shows will recognize the handler-operative relationship without any explanation needed.
Duo Idea
Strong duo from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Val recruits Walker the morning after he publicly murders someone and tells him it was exactly the right call. The contrast between Val’s sleek black spy look and Walker’s tactical Captain America-adjacent suit is significant. People who watched FATWS will recognize the handler-asset dynamic immediately.
Group Idea: The Thunderbolts
Excellent group for an MCU crowd. Val assembled exactly these people through Thunderbolts*, and each has a visually distinct costume. Val is the one in the trench coat who organized the whole group and then tried to eliminate everyone in it when the operation went sideways. Anyone who saw the 2025 film will place the group immediately. For people who did not, five very different-looking people with a composed woman in a trench coat at the center still reads as a coherent ensemble.
Group Idea: Spy Icons
Might work, but Val does not look like the other three. Ethan Hunt is in tactical gear, Natasha is in a fitted suit, James Bond is in a tuxedo. Val is in a trench coat attending policy meetings and handing out blank cards. The group holds together as “dangerous people who work in intelligence,” but anyone paying close attention will notice Val is the one who actually runs the organizations the others report to.
Most of this build is thrift-friendly except the trench coat and the burgundy gloves. The coat needs to be bought with fit in mind, which makes second-hand difficult unless you can try it on in person.
Val is warm, specific, and never flustered. She does not explain herself. She makes the other person feel like they are the interesting one in the conversation, which is how the recruitment works.
Black waterproof trench coat over a long sleeve turtleneck and high waist black leggings, with a stretch wide waist belt underneath the coat. Square cat eye sunglasses, shoulder crossbody bag, burgundy leather winter gloves, sterling silver chain necklace, gold hoop earrings, and thick high heels. Apply temporary purple hair dye for the MCU-specific detail. The fitted trench coat and purple hair are what make this recognizably Val.
Yes, for MCU fans. Val appeared in four projects from 2021 through Thunderbolts* (2025), keeping her in active circulation. At a general party without a Marvel crowd, the costume reads as stylish spy in a trench coat rather than specifically Val. That is a reasonable fallback if the party does not skew toward MCU viewers.
To John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: “You did the right thing taking the serum. Yeah, of course I know about that. And I’ll tell you something. It has made you very, very valuable to certain people.” To Yelena Belova at Natasha’s grave: “Maybe you’d like a shot at the man responsible for your sister’s death.” Announcing U.S. Agent: “Things are about to get weird. So when they do, we’re not gonna need a Captain America. We’re gonna need… a U.S. Agent.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, known for Elaine Benes in Seinfeld and Selina Meyer in Veep. Val debuted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and has since appeared in Black Widow (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and Thunderbolts* (2025).
Val employs Yelena as a covert assassin. In the post-credits scene of Black Widow (2021), she visits Yelena at Natasha Romanoff’s grave and assigns her Clint Barton as a target, falsely framing him as responsible for Natasha’s death. Their relationship continues into Thunderbolts*, where Yelena ends up with leverage over Val after the events of the film.
Facing impeachment over illegal black ops projects, Val sent her operatives on missions designed to eliminate each other and destroy all evidence of O.X.E. The plan failed when the group survived and became a team. After the Void threatened Manhattan, Val rebranded them as the New Avengers at a press conference. Yelena made clear the team now had leverage over her, which Val had to accept while keeping her composure for the cameras.
A blank business card. Val hands one out in every MCU appearance she makes. Print or cut a plain white card with nothing on it. It gets immediate recognition from Marvel fans and a natural question from everyone else, which is the next best outcome.
What is the name of the shadow organization Val secretly chairs in the MCU?
Which Disney+ series featured Agent Valentina Fontaine’s first MCU appearance?
Who did Val falsely blame for Natasha Romanoff’s death when recruiting Yelena Belova?