Can stealing a kiss really tick off a fanbase? If you were to ask Emily VanCamp, she would tell you most definitely. VanCamp began playing Sharon Carter, niece of Peggy Carter, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It's a role she would reprise in Captain America: Civil War and despite VanCamp being completely adequate in the role, her appearances in the films also shoehorned in a brief romance between herself and Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans). The two eventually share a kiss and maybe fans think it's awkward because Steve ended up marrying her aunt but VanCamp admits she felt a little bit of a backlash from MCU fans over the moment.
VanCamp was speaking with "Variety" regarding her return as Sharon Carter on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and she laughs off the backlash because she admits that some stories play well while others don't but she is happy to revisit Sharon via the new Disney+ series:
"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."
I do agree that the movies were truly too big to give Sharon the space she needed to really grow. Emily VanCamp embodied the role well but it always seemed like there just wasn't enough room for her to really make a huge impression during her appearances in the MCU. This has certainly seemed to change after her Episode 3 arrival on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier which sees her character from someone who may have been a bit too idealistic to someone who has certainly hardened since being on the run after the events of Captain America: Civil War. VanCamp went on to explain how all of these changes in Sharon's personal life have changed her into who she is when we meet her again on the show:
"What we do know is [Sharon] sacrificed a tremendous amount for the cause. When she's on the run, we don't know where she's been, but certainly you can imagine there would be some sort of, you know, I mean – how do I put it? There's quite a bit more edge to Sharon than we've ever seen. She's not that wide eyed young agent anymore. She's a little rough around the edges. Do we find out exactly what she's had to do in order to be where she is now and survive? No. But we get a sense that it hasn't always been easy, and that the sacrifices she's made weren't always worth it in her mind. That was kind of cool to see that chip on her shoulder that we never really did see before."
Good to see that VanCamp survived the kissing backlash and is back in the MCU fold because her take on the character now seems way more evolved than it has been in the past. It will be interesting to see where they take things on the last three episodes of the miniseries because it seems like anything can happen at this point.
Are YOU happy Emily VanCamp is back as Sharon Carter? The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which also stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly, and Daniel Bruhl, debuts new episodes on Fridays on Disney+.