Fans already knew Sharon Carter was going to be part of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier even before Marvel released her character poster prior to its premiere, but she still surprised most viewers with certain... character details as well as the less surprising but still welcome stellar performance from actress Emily VanCamp. However, her appearance also brought up some other topics long thought buried.
Fans will likely remember the rather baffling scene in Captain America: Civil War where VanCamp shared a kiss with Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, bringing up a fair few moral discussions due to Steve's previous romance with Sharon's great aunt Peggy Carter (Marvel is fun, isn't it?). Many even hoped that particular scene would be addressed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier at some point. Well VanCamp certainly seems to remember it too, and she had some words to say about it.
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When speaking on an episode of YouTube interview series Collider Ladies Night (which focuses on women in film), VanCamp inevitably came to the subject of that kiss scene. During the interview, she had previously been discussing her history with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how she'd originally assumed her role as Sharon was over following her appearances in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. So if she hadn't come back for the series, she might have felt like leaving things on a loose end like that would have been an unsatisfying end for the character, and that the fans would leave with a negative opinion of her.
"I think where it got a little bit blurry was the love for the Peggy-Steve relationship," VanCamp said. "That's where it got a little sticky, I think, with fans and with people who really were sort of into that specific relationship, and people saying that maybe that it was just awkward in general." It wasn't that she necessarily thought that the scene was unwarranted and pointless, but she seemed to understand how some fans may feel that way. Up until Avengers: Endgame, most people never expected Steve and Peggy to find their way back to each other, so the awkward feeling from the kiss seemed to be more from the familial relationship than diehards angry that Steve was "cheating" on Peggy.
It's still a rather confusing moment in the MCU. At best, it still takes away some of Sharon's agency by adding a romantic edge to her motivations. Action movies featuring female characters who aren't focused on some guy are unfortunately still too few, after all. At worst, it disrupts the flow entirely and teases a subplot that goes nowhere (and also still takes away Sharon's agency because that's bad in any situation).
But the MCU seems to realize that, and now that Sharon has become a powerful character in the series' continuity, she should hopefully have plenty of chances to shine as a real hard-hitter in a franchise filled with nothing but hard-hitters.