It’s Not Too Late For The MCU To Redeem Sharon Carter

Sharon Carter has often been misused in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, yet it is not too late for the franchise to fix the character’s shortcomings. Sharon Carter was first introduced in the MCU in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a neighbor of Steve Rogers’ under the guise of Kate. Eventually, it was revealed that “Kate” was actually Sharon aka Agent 13, a plant by Nick Fury to keep an eye on Captain America in the modern world.

Since then, Sharon has made three further appearances in the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and What If…?. Despite these continued reappearances in the MCU and Sharon being portrayed by a talented actress in Emily VanCamp, the character has been sorely misused across her journey in the franchise. That said, it is not too late for the MCU to redeem the character in Phases 5 and 6, with Sharon Carter’s Power Broker twist allowing for a promising future story in two upcoming MCU movies.

The MCU Won’t Stop Getting Sharon Carter Wrong

Firstly, it is worth exploring how the MCU keeps getting Sharon Carter’s character wrong. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, her role was minor, to say the least. At first, she was introduced as a potential love interest for Steve Rogers before her spy betrayal put an end to this. Aside from a few smaller scenes in the film’s climax, Sharon went underutilized until Captain America: Civil War. While the latter film gave her a much bigger role and even revealed her as Peggy Carter’s niece, her appearance was marred by a forced, admittedly strange romance with Steve, her deceased aunt’s former lover.

Related: Not Even MCU Wants To Remember Captain America & Sharon Carter’s Romance

After her appearance in 2016’s Civil War, Sharon disappeared until 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Despite the Blip and other major events taking place in-universe between the projects, Sharon was simply forgotten about until she was revealed as the criminal kingpin known as the Power Broker. Since then, Sharon is yet to appear again with many hoping for a resolution to her Power Broker story in Secret Invasion, yet this was also proven to be false hope after the latest Disney+ show took a different direction.

Sharon Carter Fits Perfectly Into Several Upcoming MCU Projects

The long history of the character’s misuse in the MCU notwithstanding, Sharon Carter could be redeemed in several projects confirmed as part of the list of upcoming Marvel movies or shows. Given her history with the character of Captain America, both Steve Rogers’ and Sam Wilson’s versions, 2024’s Captain America: Brave New World seems the perfect place to reintroduce Sharon. She was revealed as the Power Broker in Sam Wilson’s last MCU adventure and returned to the U.S. at the end of the show to widen the scope of her criminal empire, meaning an appearance in Captain America 4 would certainly fit.

Speaking of her Power Broker reputation, Armor Wars would be another good fit for Sharon. Her new role in the MCU sees her as a broker of powerful pieces of equipment, tech, or other supplements to the highest bidder to provide them with superpowers, whether they be villainous organizations or not. Given that Armor Wars is set to focus on Tony Stark’s technology falling into the wrong hands, Sharon could be the cause of this by selling some Stark Tech to unsavory characters now that she is operating in the United States.

Through either of these projects, Sharon Carter could be redeemed. Rather than be a forgotten side character with minimal development, Sharon could receive some solid, big-screen development. Be it a reveal that her Power Broker status was a long, undercover hero mission or that she really is a hero-turned-villain, either of these future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies could finally provide a better, more compelling story for Sharon Carter than she has previously been attributed in past projects, bringing much-needed redemption for her severely underutilized character.

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