An Introduction To Peggy Carter In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Marvel’s Agent Carter started its seven-week run on Tuesday, January 6th. For those of us who are steeped in the Marvel Cinematic Universe no matter its form, we know Peggy Carter. She kicks ass, takes names, and has our dream job: working alongside Captain America.
But what about the casual fans who happened to tune in and not know her except from maybe her cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Of course, Peggy Carter is also in the Marvel Comics, but between page and screen, she is vastly different.
While it’s not exactly necessary to know where Peggy Carter has popped up along the way, it may help you keep some facts straight.
Captain America: The First Avenger
We are introduced to Peggy Carter when scrawny, pre-serum Steve Rogers goes to boot camp. What is the first thing she does? Punches a soldier-in-training in the face for being insubordinate.
She is not a damsel in distress. She can hold her own. Her fighting style is unique–unladylike, absolutely brutal, and unexpected coming from a character who has impeccable lipstick on at all times.
She is far from the “Betty Carver” character on the radio show from Agent Carter’s second episode. Actually, I’ll just let Hayley Atwell spell her out for you:
"“I think she’s quite stubborn, a slightly frustrated woman who struggles with being a woman in that time. But more importantly she’s a modern woman and she sees something in Captain America that she relates to, and becomes kindred spirits. He treats her very differently to how she’s been treated by lots of men, in this kind of dominated world she lives in. So she’s very much a fighter.”"
Her romance with Steve Rogers does not base itself around his improved physique or the fact that he’s portrayed by Chris Evans; Peggy sees his pure heart and good will before anything else and always holds that above everything else. She puts her trust in him and they work off each other throughout the movie. And in the end, it’s the picture of scrawny Steve that she keeps in a frame in her desk. That speaks more than words.
Agent Carter (Marvel One-Shot)
It’s an extra on DVD/Blu-Ray for Iron Man 3 and it is one of the last one-shots Marvel has done to date. It takes place one year after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger where Peggy Carter is chained to a desk at the Strategic Scientific Reserve with all her efforts during World War II overshadowed by the fact that she is a woman in a man’s world (a point that is driven home a lot when Peggy is mentioned, so I’ll keep it to a minimum).
Any time there is a need for agents in the field, Peggy is overlooked, tasked with code-breaking and secretarial work. One evening after the rest of the agents have gone out for drinks, the phone rings, telling the location of the Zodiac, and while three to five agents are recommended, she goes to take care of it herself.
The following morning after a successful mission, she is reprimanded by her boss, a hilariously perfect Bradley Whitford, who says that the only reason she is with the SSR is because she was Captain America’s girlfriend and the higher-ups took pity on her and wanted to make her feel useful.
Howard Stark calls to save the day, promoting her to help him run SHIELD in Washington DC.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Her cameo showing her as an eighty-something-year-old suffering from bouts of Alzheimer’s/dementia aside, the movie gives us a glimpse of Agent Carter from 1953. In the Smithsonian’s National Air And Space Museum’s exhibit about Captain America, there is a clip of her in a short film where she discusses some of their triumphs during the war.
This includes a siege against Hydra that lasted for months where Captain America saved over a thousand men, including the man who would become her husband.
Since season two premiered, we have had two separate episodes with flashbacks to Peggy Carter in action, one of them being the season premiere. Working alongside Captain America’s Howling Commandos, Agent Carter seems to have spent 1945 cleaning up after The Red Skull and Hydra.
Likewise, in a later episode, we have several flashbacks to her interrogations of Daniel Whitehall and how she was the one to lock him away in prison until he was taken out of custody by Hydra operatives in 1989. We also have a fun scene where Agent Simmons discovers some old SHIELD files written by Peggy Carter and has a bit of a fangirl freakout moment.
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Honestly, Peggy Carter may not have shown up so much in the MCU if it wasn’t for Hayley Atwell’s tremendous performance. Be on the lookout for her in May’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. If reports are to be trusted, Joss Whedon filmed a flashback scene involving her. It should be interesting to see how the past ties into the future.
Next: Read our review and recap of the Agent Carter premiere