The MCU's second Disney+ outing, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , brought just over 50 minutes of thrilling action last week to help complete Sam Wilson's transformation into the new Captain America . Even though Episode 6 was the third-shortest entry of the series in terms of runtime, it was filled with non-stop action and thrilling plot reveals at nearly every turn.
While the Flag Smashers turned out to be the major villains of this show, more evil forces continue to lurk in the shadows for the MCU's future. This includes Helmut Zemo, who is now imprisoned in the Raft , and the episode showed the potentially dark turn for Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter as well.
Agent 13 revealed herself to have been acting as Madripoor's Power Broker, which was a major topic of discussion among some of the show's biggest names.
DISNEY+ CAST AND CREW TALK SHARON CARTER'S POWER BROKER
In a recent interview with Marvel , the cast and crew of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shared some insight into Emily VanCamp's evolution into the Power Broker in the Disney+ series.
VanCamp herself admitted to some confusion when head writer Malcolm Spellman first told her about her character development:
“I remember Malcolm [Spellman] saying, ‘Oh, wait until you see what’s happening!’ I was so confused; I didn’t really know what they were talking about in the very beginning. I had only read maybe one script and was wondering if they were talking about these fight sequences.”
In the end, VanCamp felt that Sharon taking on the Power Broker mantle "made perfect sense." With this series introducing "this whole new version of her," it gave the Agent 13 star a chance to explore just how much her character "was abandoned and left to her own devices" :
“When I found out that Sharon is in fact the Power Broker, it made perfect sense. It really solidifies what all of this means for Sharon. We’re meeting this whole new version of her, and this kind of character, unfortunately, is the sad product of the series of events where she was abandoned and left to her own devices. It is very fitting that she was hurt and scorned and went rogue.”
Spellman added that Sharon's change meant that there was going to inevitably be a crossroads "between who she was and who she’s going to become" :
“Having Sharon be anchored in Madripoor meant this inherent intersection between who she was and who she’s going to become.”
Co-executive producer Zoie Nagelhout shared her views on the matter, making it clear that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier "had to redefine (Sharon)" while bringing her back. Clarifying that Sharon "essentially had her arc offscreen," this show is meant to catch up on what she's been doing for seven years in the MCU timeline and "uncover(ing) the mystery of why she has changed" :
“We knew if we were going to bring Sharon Carter back, we had to redefine her. She put her neck out to help our guys and she was literally just left in the darkness of the aftermath of Civil War . She essentially had her arc offscreen, and we’re now catching up on what she experienced [during that time]. You uncover the mystery of why she has changed and who she has become.”
Nagelhout continued by reassuring fans that the team made sure Sharon wasn't "losing the remnants of the character" while still diving fully into the way she was "forced to survive for years" on her own after Captain America: Civil War :
“There’s always that question of not losing the remnants of the character and keeping elements of her, but still fully exploring what happens to you when you’re forced to survive for years. Your key mode is survival; it does something to a person.”
To close, VanCamp simply expressed her excitement "to be able to tell the story of where she’s been and what she’s been up to" in her time off-screen in the MCU. The change from "who she is now versus who she was then" was essential to her comeback in this series, and it was clearly a thrill for her to push the character "to be this intimidating, bigger version" of herself after everything she's been through:
“I was just excited to be able to tell the story of where she’s been and what she’s been up to. It was important that we really define who she is now versus who she was then. Things have certainly not been easy for Sharon, in this lawless land where she had to fend for herself. For her to be thriving the way she is, it makes sense for her to be this intimidating, bigger version and for her to put on this display for the boys, it all kind of works in her favor ultimately.”
WHAT WILL THE POWER BROKER PULL NEXT?
The biggest question that now remains is this: What is Sharon Carter's endgame in future MCU projects ?
VanCamp's character took a surprisingly dark turn by becoming the Power Broker , even considering how much pain and trauma she'd endured since she first went on the run from the Sokovia Accords. In the end, every quote seemed to come to the same conclusion that this evolution made sense for Sharon having to be on the run for years, and that she's simply had to find a way to survive for all that time.
Now that she's restored both her family name and her place in the government, she should have every resource needed to accomplish whatever lofty goals she now has set.
Evidence may point to this new Sharon possibly being a Skrull , and others have pointed to the character being involved in next year's Secret Invasion (whether this version is really Sharon Carter or not). Regardless of the results, the newly restored government agent is on a mission, and fans can't wait to find out which side of the battle she's truly fighting for.
All six episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are available to stream on Disney+.
