One thing that Marvel Studios have always been good at, throughout most of their movies, has been incorporating the rich amount of supporting characters that complement each of their main heroes.
To date, we’ve seen folks like Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan and General “Thunderbolt” Ross play important roles in a variety of films. And with Avengers: Infinity War, that was more or less the case, too, as it brought back a whole bunch of supporting players, some who we were expecting to see and some who took us by surprise. But one individual who originated in the source material whom’s yet to get her due is Sharon Carter (played by Emily VanCamp).
Though before the film came out there were rumors that she’d appear in it, Carter ended up sitting out of Infinity War. That’s unfortunate, too, as fans are certainly eager for more of her, and as it turns out, there was a point where she was actually set to have a role. Or at least, that’s according to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who explained to Collider that once the threequel turned into a heist movie, there was simply no room for her.
“Once it became a smash and grab type movie, anything that wasn’t on the main A plot or in response to Thanos collecting stones, mostly got jettisoned.”
As fans will know, VanCamp debuted in the MCU in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as a neighbor of Steve Rogers who was revealed to be a crack S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. 2016’s Captain America: Civil War then revealed that Sharon was actually the niece of Steve’s lost love Peggy Carter. The movie also teased a brewing romance between Cap and Agent 13, which is actually kind of strange when you think about it.
While she’s a major character in the comics – much more prominent than Peggy is, in fact – and though VanCamp’s memorable in the role, the screen version hasn’t made a huge impact so far. Still, it’s easy to see why they left her out of Avengers: Infinity War. As the writers explained above, there really wouldn’t have been room for her and unfortunate as it is, it’s probably for the best that Sharon was kept on the sidelines.