Agent Peggy Carter is one of the best examples of how the MCU has turned minor comic book characters into beloved fan favorites. While her comic book counterpart is traditionally a minor figure, Marvel Studios’ Peggy — as brilliantly played by Hayley Atwell — is one of the more popular heroines in the franchise. In fact, she deserves credit for being the very first female character to lead their own MCU project.
It’s no surprise that she’s appeared all over the place in the past 10 plus years then, with Atwell reprising her role in multiple movies and TV series set at different points in Peggy’s life. And, while she has yet to be confirmed to feature, it looks a lot like Atwell will return again in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as the latest promos have shown glimpses of Captain Carter battling Strange and Scarlet Witch.
So, ahead of Peggy’s latest comeback, now is the perfect opportunity to recap her MCU timeline to date, from her beginnings in World War Two to the debut of her superhero doppelganger from another universe.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Peggy made her grand entrance in The First Avenger. A British MI5 agent transferred to the Strategic Scientific Reserve to aid in Project Rebirth, Carter was instrumental in inspiring Steve Rogers to become Captain America. Her fellow future S.H.I.E.L.D. co-founders, Howard Stark and Chester Phillips, also appear.
Agent Carter (One-Shot)
Her next appearance came in Marvel One-Short short film Agent Carter, in which Peggy singlehandedly retrieves the dangerous Zodiac serum from enemy hands. The short is essentially a pilot for her subsequent TV series, even though its ending — which sees Peggy invited by Howard to help him run S.H.I.E.L.D. — conflicts with the show’s continuity.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
In The Winter Soldier, once recovered from the ice, Steve visits the now-elderly Peggy, who is tragically suffering from memory problems. Elsewhere, Steve watches a documentary featuring an interview with a younger Peggy, in which she mentions marrying another man. His identity has never been revealed since (although Endgame suggests it’s Steve himself).
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hayley Atwell appeared in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season two, via wartime flashbacks. In the season premiere “Shadows”, Peggy and the Howling Commandos capture HYDRA leader Werner Reinhardt. In episode eight, “The Things We Bury”, Peggy is seen interrogating Reinhardt in prison.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Though Peggy doesn’t properly show up in Age of Ultron, Steve has a vision of her in a hallucination planted in his mind by Scarlet Witch. The hallucination imagines if Steve had made it to the dance he had arranged with Peggy before he plowed into the ice.
Agent Carter (TV series)
In her very own TV series, Peggy has to face sexism and prove her worth to her male colleagues in the SSR, working in the New York (season one) and Los Angeles (season two) branches after the war. Peggy faces many enemies over the show’s two seasons, including Russian organization Leviathan, Black Widow Dottie Underwood, and actress-turned-supervillain Whitney Frost.
Ant-Man
Peggy cameos at the beginning of Ant-Man, in a flashback set in 1989. She is present along with Howard Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. Head of Defense Mitchell Carson when Hank Pym elects to break from the organization to prevent them from using his Pym Particles.
Avengers: Endgame
When Steve travels back to 1970 as part of Avengers: Endgame‘s Time Heist, he briefly views his lost love in her office at Camp Lehigh. At the end of the movie, Steve travels back again, this time to the 1940s, so he can reunite with “his best girl” permanently. The pair grow old together until her death in 2016 (as seen in Captain America: Civil War).
What If…?
What If…? introduces a variant of Peggy who took the Super-Soldier serum instead of Steve, becoming Captain Carter and defeating the Red Skull herself. Captain Carter later aided the Watcher’s Guardians of the Multiverse in defeating Infinity Ultron’s bid to conquer all reality. Following her Doctor Strange 2 appearance, she will return in season two. A Captain Carter comic book series is also ongoing.
Don’t miss Captain Carter’s cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in theaters from May 6.