Sharon Carter

Origin

When Sharon’s aunt Peggy Carter returned from World War II she told Sharon about the many adventures she would go on with the French Resistance, which inspired Sharon to decide to join SHIELD. Given the codename Agent 13, her first mission was to retrieve an explosive called Inferno-42 from a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had stolen it from THEM. After Sharon retrieved the explosive, a mercenary named Batroc was hired by THEM to steal it back. Luckily, Captain America had come just in time to help her, and while Captain America and Batroc were fighting each other, she ran off. Little did she know that the casing had been cracked, activating the explosive. Captain America had found out that Sharon was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and had saved her life from the explosive and THEM.

Creation

Sharon Carter was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers and first appeared in Tales of Suspense #75 in March 1966.

Character Evolution

Sharon Carter was first introduced as Peggy Carter’s younger sister. However, as time went on, Marvel’s sliding timeline could not cope with an increasingly aged Peggy (who fought in World War II) and a much younger Sharon. Eventually, Sharon was retconned to be Peggy’s niece in Captain America #25 in 2007, where she is shown as a child watching old movie-reels of Captain America in the war.

Major Story Arcs

Legacy

Captain America and Agent 13 kept crossing each other paths. Captain America saved her from the group AIM and the two of them fell in love. The two became lovers and great allies for many assignments later on. However, Captain America soon learned that Sharon’s aunt was the one he loved during WWII.

Seeming Death

Sharon’s next mission was in New York City, to investigate a group called the National Force whose leader was Dr. Faustus. During a rally, Sharon fell under a mind-influencing gas and was kidnapped, with others by Grand Director. When they were forced to march into Harlem and burn it down, she activated a self-destruct function in her suit under the influence and was believed to be killed along with many others. However, later it was revealed that Nick Fury planned all this so she could go on an even more dangerous assignment. However, the plan went wrong and Sharon was left behind enemy lines. Out of resentment, she joined Red Skull’s agents but Captain America defeated Red Skull’s plan and Sharon returned home. She was still angry with Fury, and she learned that he had been killed by the Punisher. However, this was all planned. Sharon infiltrated the agency and learned that she was wanted for treason. She escaped through a portal in a safehouse and came through to the WWII era and confronted Nick Fury there.

Fallen Angel

Sharon soon became of vital importance once more during a mission Nick Fury had set out for himself. Fury had found documents in which he discovered that an agent codenamed Fallen Angel was abandoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra kidnapped him compared to the other story where he was killed. His search led to Backslide which was an abandoned project which created a fabricated Cosmic Cube. Fallen Angel wanted Fury to go back in time and prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from ever being created so he could get his revenge. They both struggled and both ended up going through the portal but it didn’t go back in time. It just created a reality based on both their memories. Fallen Angel took his own life and Fury was stuck there fighting in the war. However, Sharon’s presence allowed a way out because of her memories changing the reality. They both fought their way through where as on the other side, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were about to destroy seeing as Fury was the one who could open it. Sharon and Fury just escaped before the destruction of the portal, but Fury disappeared during the explosion.

Afterwards, Sharon started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. once more, filling in for Fury as Executive Director and became a field agent once more reporting and supporting Captain America’s actions. Both of them remain close and began investigating Bucky Barnes.

Heroes Reborn

In the Heroes Reborn universe created by Franklin Richards, Sharon Carter was the red-haired wife of Steve Rogers, with whom she had a son who, despite a strong family resemblance to his father, was named Steve Rogers Junior rather than Mini Steve. But when Steve learned that he was Captain America, Nick Fury revealed to him that Sharon and his son were actually L.M.D.’s (Life Model Decoys) placed there to give Steve a real life again but under the watchful eye of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Death of Captain America

After the Red Skull manages to get Steve Rogers’ arraignment to take place in New York, he sets a plan in motion. As Rogers is being escorted into the courthouse by the US Marshals, he notices a red dot appear on the back of the marshal in front of him. Looking up, he spots a sniper in a building across the street. As the shot is fired, Cap manages to knock the marshal out of the way and takes the bullet in the back which passes through his upper chest. Sharon Carter makes her way through a panicked crowd to Steve’s side as three more bullets are fired at close range. Captain America lies on the steps of the courthouse. Barely able to talk, he begs Sharon to get the crowd to safety.

On route to the hospital, the media announces that Captain America was pronounced dead on arrival. Sharon and the Falcon sit in the waiting room while Steve is presumably in surgery. Later Sharon goes to the restroom to splash some water on her face. The Red Skull’s daughter comes in and gives her a command to remember. Sharon had been having sessions with Dr. Faustus as per S.H.I.E.L.D. orders. Sharon’s mind goes back to when the sniper fired his shot. She sees herself moving towards Steve. Then she sees herself shoot Steve three times at close range. Captain America’s body is then seen lying under a bloody sheet.

Sharon becomes enraged when she discovers that newly appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark ( Iron Man) treats Steve’s body as a “specimen” of the Super-Soldier Serum. She slaps him and resigns.

Sharon sinks into depression, wracked with guilt over being the one who delivered Steve’s fatal wounds. She contemplates killing herself, and finds out that she’s pregnant with Steve’s baby.

Still under Dr. Faustus’ control, Sharon answers his summons and reports to the Red Skull’s current base of operations – obedient, but questioning her programming and her own motives. Desperately confused, she sinks to the ground, moaning to herself. Winter Soldier approaches her, intending to help her escape with him. Sharon’s programming overrides her instinct, and she stuns Winter Soldier and takes him to Faustus’ departing transport, as ordered. She eventually drops the unconscious Winter Soldier from the transport, where the Falcon was waiting to catch him. She explained, to Faustus’ displeasure, that it was the only way to rid them of the Falcon’s pursuit.

Secret Avengers

When Norman Osborn took charge of national security following the Secret Invasion of the Skrulls, he dismantled SHIELD and replaced it with HAMMER. Following Osborn’s defeat at the Siege of Asgard, Steve Rogers became the official ‘Top Cop’ of the US. As part of the new structure under his command he set up the Avengers managed by Maria Hill, the New Avengers, with Victoria Hand as their liaison and a covert team called the Secret Avengers, with support from Sharon.

Marvel NOW!

Sharon Carter appears in the pages of Captain America, being present when Cap was abducted to Arnim Zola’s Dimension Z. Ten years later, she mysteriously appears in the dimension, shooting the newly de-brainwashed Ian Zola through the throat, thinking he was a threat to Captain America.

Sharon sacrificed herself by blowing herself and Zola’s Battle Station up to prevent Zola’s invasion of Earth.

It was later revealed that Sharon spent her time in Dimension X, where time passed more quickly, and raised Ian Zola as her own son. When Armin Zola began his attack to earth, Falcon encounter Sharon trapped in a Tower, learning she has survived her previous attempt to stop Zola. After being freed she is reunited with the now old Steve Rogers.

Alternate Realities

Earth-9997

In the alternate future of Earth X, Sharon has become a thrall of HYDRA, a squid-based alien lifeform that takes away one’s free will and forces them to become part of a hive-mind collective that wishes to take control of the world.

Eurth

On Eurth, a world that was constructed by The Shaper of Worlds with The Living Tribunal’s permission, Sharon is known as Queen Sharaan, is the wife of King St’vaan (Captain Avalon) and is the mother of his son St’vaan Jr. When her husband left to quell the rampage of the Greenskyn Smashtroll in Market Square, Queen Sharaan was murdered by an assassin called The Black Blade who had been hired by the King’s arch-nemesis Dreadlord to kidnap St’vaan Jr. Her body was found by Captain Avalon when he returned from the fight against the Smashtroll.

Earth 1610

In the Ultimate Universe, Sharon Carter works for SHIELD as a special agent working directly under Nick Fury with her partner, Jimmy Woo. Her main charge is taking into custody illegal genetic mutations. She is first introduced in Ultimate Spider-man #16 and later returns in Ultimate Spider-Man #46 as a prelude to the Ultimate Six 6-issue series. Sharon appears as agent in charge for the incarceration of the Ultimate version of Spider-Man’s enemies, the Sinister Six.

Character Profile

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 145 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair Color: Blond
• Citizenship: American
• Place of Birth: Richmond, Virginia
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Special Field Officer of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Known Relatives: Harrison Carter (father); Amanda Carter (mother), Margaret “Peggy” Carter (aunt, deceased); Ian Zola (adopted son)

Other Media

Television

Captain America (1966)

Sharon appears in one episode of Captain America (1966). Although her name is not mentioned, when Captain meets Sharon he mistakes her with Peggy Carter, his past love. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D. She was voiced by Peg Dixon.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

A character very similar to Sharon appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. She is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent billed as “Agent 1” or “Agent X”. She is voiced by Rachel Daies.

What If…?

Sharon appears in What If…?, with Emily VanCamp reprising her role. She is first seen in the episode “What If… Zombies!?”, where she is part of a small band of survivors after a zombie plague ravages the planet. She is turned into a zombie after being bitten by Captain America, and is ultimately destroyed by the Wasp.

Films

Captain America (1990)

In 1990 Captain America movie, Sharon Cooperman (Kim Gillingham) is the main love interes of Steve. It may be consider that she and Carter are the same character: The share their first name and the are both related to Steve love in the times of the war (Peggy in Carter case and Bernice in Cooperman´s one). The principal difference between the two is that in the film she is a civilian while in the comics Carter is a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Actress Emily VanCamp plays Sharon Carter in the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Sharon is assigned to watch and protect Steve by Nick Fury. She take the name of “Kate”,a nurse, and starts living in the department opposite of him. During their time together they become acquainted, flirting occasionally though Sharon keeps some sort of distance between them.

One night Steve returns to his apartment only to find Nick Fury wounded inside. He barely survived an earlier attack from the Winter Soldier and reaches Steve, telling him he cannot trust anyone. Before he can reveal anymore, he is shot several times. Sharon break into the apartment, revealing herself as Agent 13, a member S.H.I.E.L.D. special service with the task to watch over Steve. As she asks for medical attention, Steve rush to find the attacker, finding out Winter Soldier was responsible.

When Nick Fury is declared dead, Sharon and Steve meet again after she is questioned about the accident by Alexander Pierce. As they run into each other, Steve calls her “Neighbour” sarcastically.

After Steve escapes the Triskelion, Jasper Sitwell order the agent to hunt down Captain America. She refuses to take his order until they are given the reason to do that, but Alexander Pierce makes himself present saying he is not going to give anymore information.

She is the control room for Project Insight when the infiltration of Hydra is revealed. Brock Rumlow and S.T.R.I.K.E enter the room and gives the order to launch the helicarriers. When an agent refuse to do that, Rumlow threatens him but Sharon points her gun at him while several S.H.I.E.L.D. loyal agents do the same. Despite their efforts, Rumlow is still able to launch the helicarriers.

Although the Hydra is defeated, S.H.I.E.L.D. is dismantled and Sharon joins the CIA and Steve finally learns Sharon real name when Black Widow, at Steve’s request, finds out what the name of “The Nurse.”

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Emily Van Camp reprises her role in the sequel, Captain America: Civil War. Now a counter-terrorism agent, Sharon works alongside Everett Ross. Early on in the film, Steve learns that Sharon is Peggy’s niece after seeing her give a speech at Peggy’s funeral. She helps out Steve by providing him with classified intel after Bucky is framed for a terrorist attack in Europe. Later, when Captain America and the Falcon are arrested following a brawl with Black Panther and the Winter Soldier, Sharon reunites with them. She and Black Widow later fight the Winter Soldier after he is brainwashed by Helmut Zemo, but are defeated. Sharon is last seen when she steals Steve and Sam’s gear and covertly gives it back to them. Steve warns her that she will now be considered a fugitive due to helping him, but she says she knows, and the two share a kiss before parting ways.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

Emily Van Camp repirses her role again in the Disney+ streaming series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It is revealed that she has been a fugitive ever since aiding and abetting Captain America during the events of Captain America: Civil War. She has been hiding out in Madripoor, when she comes across Sam and Bucky looking for information. She begrudgingly helps them even though she felt abandoned but also has her own agenda.

Sharon has been pardoned by the government and has her old job back. Surprisingly, in the post credits scene it has been revealed that Sharon is secretly the Power Broker.

Video games

Ultimate Spider-Man

Sharon makes an appearance in Ultimate Spider-Man. She appears in two scenes: One with Nick Fury after Beetle release Green Goblin from prison. The other one when Green Goblin is escorted back to prison. She is voiced by Jane Hajduk.

Marvel: War of Heroes

Sharon is featured in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. She is featured in this card:

• [Secret Avenger] Sharon Carter
• [Sleeper] Sharon Carter
• [Framed] Sharon Carter
• [Straight-talking] Sharon Carter

Marvel Future Fight

This is the first game in which Sharon is a playable character. This is a mobile game. She is a speed type, and her description in the game says: Inspired by her Aunt Peggy’s World War II adventures alongside Captain America, Sharon Carter joined and trained under S.H.I.E.L.D., becoming one of the agency’s most skilled and effcient operatives.

She is available with variant costumes

• Sharon Carter – Modern
• Agent 13 – Captain America: Civil War

An alternate version of Sharon, releases during the “Captain America’s 75th anniversary”. She is called Sharon Rogers, is the daughter in Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, and took the mantle of Captain America.

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers

Sharon Carter is a playable character in the game. She is part of the Captain America: Civil War DLC pack.

Marvel Heroes

Sharon Carter debuted as a non-playable agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Marvel Heroes. The she was released asa Team-Up character in the game. Her bio says: Sharon Carter grew up listening to the tales of her courageous aunt, Peggy Carter, and her adventures with Captain America. Little did Sharon know, her aunt’s escapades would inspire her to become an agent of S.H.I.E.LD. and work alongside the very same legend she had only heard stories about. As an exemplary agent, her fighting skills and training make Agent 13 one of the top operatives in the field.

Avengers Academy

Sharon, as Agent 13, is a playable character in the game. She can be recruited during de “Civil War” Event. Her quest is “Lucky 13, Pt. 2”. She is voiced by Linnea Sage.

Marvel Avengers Alliance 2:

Sharon Carter/Agent 13 is a playable character in the game.

Her bio says: An Undercover field operative, originally charged with the surveillance and protection of Captain America, Agent 13 and Steve Rogers have since become close friends. As a high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. special agent, Agent 13 has experience in logistics, espionage, and combat, making her a major asset to any team.

Merchandise

• Hasbro released a Marvel Legends Sharon Carter figure as part of the “S.H.I.E.L.D. Super Spies!” two-pack, along with Stealth Armor Iron Man.
• Heroclix: Sharon has two different versions, both based on her white costume.
• Hasbro released a Sharon Carter figure as part of the Marvel Legends Red Onslaught Build-a-Figure wave.
• Sharon Carter was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line.
• For the Captain America: Civil War movie, Hasbro released a 3.75″ Sharon Carter figure as part of a two-pack with Black Panther.
• Lego included a Sharon Carter figure in the “Super Hero Airport Battle” kit released for Captain America: Civil War.
• Funko produced a Sharon Carter bobblehead for the Pop line.