It's been five years since Marvel fans have seen Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter in the MCU, but the character will make her big return when she helps Sam and Bucky out on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier soon. Sharon has been through a lot since we last saw her, and while we don't know the details of what her life was like after helping Steve Rogers and his friends out during the events of Captain America: Civil War, you can bet that her decisions in that film had a great impact on what she did afterward. Now we know for a fact that the Sharon Carter we meet in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier won't be the same as she was in Civil War.
Even though Sharon Carter was removed from existence by Thanos along with billions of other humans, everyone was brought back relatively recently. The world changed a lot in the five years that everyone was gone, and so has Sharon, a fact which showrunner Malcolm Spellman told The A.V. Club will be abundantly obvious when she finally appears on the Disney+ show. When asked which returning character, aside from Sam and Bucky, was the most exciting to delve into, Spellman said:
The character that turned into the most fun was Sharon Carter, because Emily [VanCamp] has such a baby face. She looks very sweet and innocent, but Sharon Carter is going to emerge as a badass. I’d have to use far more inappropriate language to describe how awesome she is. Let’s just say this: Sharon Carter is all grown up now. I guess what made it so fun was we started getting to know Sharon in Captain America: Civil War, and you just factor in what would have naturally happened between Civil War and now and you get a whole different Sharon Carter showing up.
We've already seen some tiny snippets of what Sharon will be doing when she returns to her MCU activity, and it does appear to involve a lot of ass-kicking. While the character was always a tough agent, first for S.H.I.E.L.D. and then the CIA, she was also shown as being someone with a heart that demanded justice for others and as a woman with a strong moral compass who would follow her ethics as opposed to what others thought was right, even if it meant trouble for her.
This was especially true as Sharon sided with Steve and his side of the Avengers' Civil War conflict. She had ultimate faith that he was doing the right thing, and supplied them with help, information, and made sure they got their weapons back. Sam has already reminded everyone how her help meant that she had to go on the run, along with Sam and anyone else who wasn't arrested, and even a tiny amount of time living that way is sure to make the most hopeful individual a whole new kind of badass.
While we don't know exactly what this will look like on Sharon once she returns, here's hoping that there's still some sense of hope within her somewhere.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs new episodes on Disney+ every Friday, for more to watch in the meantime, check out our guide to winter / spring 2021 TV premieres!
