Sharon Carter actress Emily VanCamp was unaware of character’s twist end

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

SPOILERS for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The latest Marvel series on Disney+ wrapped up last week, but in true Marvel fashion, The Falcon and the Winter Solider left plenty of loose ends which could be picked up by either the recently announced Captain America 4 or a future Disney+ series, and that includes just what the heck is going on with Sharon Carter.

Emily VanCamp returned to play Sharon Carter in The Falcon and the Winter Solider, and it was eventually revealed that she was actually the elusive Power Broker. A post-credit scene went one step further, showing that despite receiving a pardon and reinstatement to her former job, Carter intends on selling government secrets to the highest bidder. While some saw this twist coming, it was something that Emily VanCamp wasn't aware of when she signed on to reprise her role for the series. The actress spoke of her initial talks with the creative team with Marvel recently.

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. 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.

This doesn't mean that Sharon Carter is one of the bad guys (unless she's a Skrull imposter as some have suspected), but rather a little more complicated person. "Obviously, she has a much bigger plan and it’s not for the greater good like it used to be," VanCamp explained. "As the person playing the character, I understand that perspective; she doesn’t trust the government anymore and she wants to stick it to them a little bit. What that all means? I don’t know. We’ll see." In regards to just why Sharon Carter has changed so much, co-executive producer Zoie Nagelhout said, "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."