Civil War: Emily VanCamp Addresses Backlash on Sharon/Captain America’s Kiss
Sharon Carter actress Emily VanCamp addresses the backlash from her brief kiss with Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War. Peggy's grand-niece was introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who worked for Nick Fury. After the revelation that HYDRA had secretly infiltrated the organization, he eventually changed jobs. He became a member of the CIA, which effectively involved her in the bombing of the U.N. Assembly staged by Zemo and killed Wakanda's King T'Chaka.
It's been a while since Sharon has been in the MCU after stealing out Captain America's shield and Falcon's wings. This caused the government to brand her as an enemy of the state in the aftermath of Civil War. Before she disappeared, she shared a brief kiss with Steve, which earned a considerable amount of backlash. It was clear that the Star-Spangled Avenger's one true love is Peggy Carter, who is related to Sharon. This was made much worse by the fact that the S.H.I.E.L.D. co-founder just died.
Now that VanCamp is back in the MCU, reprising her role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she talks about the criticisms of Sharon and Steve's kiss in Civil War in a new interview with Variety. The actress subtly cited the backlash affected the overall trajectory of that plotline so that nothing came out of it anymore.
There was quite a bit of backlash about that. With Sharon, it was always trying to fit her in and these movies are just too big, and it’s completely understandable. To get to see who she’s become over this long period of time, and independent of Captain America as we know him, is really interesting to me. The intrigue for me was to see who is Sharon now.
I mean, look, you have to laugh. Some of these storylines play and some of them don’t. But, you know, I thought that was an amazing film. It’s just one of those things.
There were actual plans to continue the budding romance between Sharon and Steve in Avengers: Infinity War. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely previously revealed that in an earlier draft of the film, the pair lived together leading up to Thanos' attack on Earth. However, the supposed status of their relationship wasn't great, and MCU architect Kevin Feige felt the need to step up and scrap the plotline. It's unclear how this could've fit in Steve's adventures with the Secret Avengers, but it doesn't seem like there are any long terms for the couple.
As seen in Avengers: Endgame, Steve ultimately reunited with Peggy, and together, they lived a happy life in the past. On the other hand, Sharon is left fending off for herself years after the events of Captain America: Civil War. As seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she hasn't been pardoned by the government, the same way Sam and other Team Cap members have been, and is now living in hiding in Madripoor. Considering what she has had to go through in the last several years, it's no wonder she's become so cynical.
Source: Variety