Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter (born April 9, 1921) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, she debuted, unnamed, in Tales of Suspense #75 as a World War II love interest of Steve Rogers in flashback sequences. She would later be better known as a relative of Sharon Carter.

Peggy Carter
Peggy Carter on the cover of Captain America: Peggy Carter, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (Dec. 2014). Art by Siya Oum.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceTales of Suspense #75 (March 1966; unnamed and obscured)
Tales of Suspense #77 (May 1966; unnamed)
Captain America (comic book) #162 (March 1973; as Peggy Carter)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Full nameMargaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter
Team affiliations
Supporting character ofCaptain America
Notable aliasesDryad, Agent 13
AbilitiesSkilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, markswoman, and tactician

Hayley Atwell portrayed the character in several projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2011 to 2019, including films, a short film, and television series, before playing alternate versions of the character known as Captain Carter in the animated series What If...? (2021–present) and the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022),[1] with the comic book version of the character subsequently being redesigned after Atwell.

Publication history edit

The character debuted in a single panel (and unnamed) as a wartime love interest of Captain America in Tales of Suspense #75 (March 1966), and then receiving a backstory in #77 (May 1966). She was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. She was created to give Sharon Carter a family background.[2][3] She appeared again as the older sister of Sharon Carter in Captain America #161 (May 1973). She was later retconned as Sharon's aunt, then later great-aunt, due to the unaging nature of comic book characters (see Captain America vol. 5 #25 (April 2007)). The character has appeared frequently in Captain America stories set during World War II.[citation needed]

Fictional character biography edit

Dr.[4] Peggy Carter joins the French Resistance as a teenager and becomes a skilled fighter, who serves on several operations alongside Captain America.[5] The two fall in love, but an exploding shell gives her amnesia and she is sent to live with her parents in Virginia.[6]

During the "Original Sin" storyline, it was revealed in 1952 that Peggy Carter worked with Howard Stark and Woody McCord when they investigated an alien ship in Siberia.[7] The three of them worked to keep the alien from being taken by Hydra and had the alien live with Anton Vanko.[8]

In the 1960s, Peggy Carter joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long tenure.[9]

At the time when Captain America resurfaced in the world, Peggy Carter was taking treatments from Doctor Faustus. When she was rescued by Captain America, she maintained her friendship with him.[10]

Peggy Carter later helped Captain America fight the Secret Empire.[11] She also dealt with his decision to stop being Captain America for a while.[12]

Peggy helps Captain America when her niece Sharon Carter and some S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents went missing while gathering information on the new Grand Director.[13]

Peggy Carter later joined the Avengers' support staff at Avengers Mansion.[14]

During her retirement, Peggy lived in a nursing home and started suffering dementia where she couldn't recognize Sharon. William Burnside later visited Peggy claiming to be the original Captain America.[15] Following her death,[7] S.H.I.E.L.D. erected a memorial statue of her outside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy in Newark.[16] Steve Rogers, Nick Fury, and Dum Dum Dugan attended her funeral.

Through unknown means, Peggy Carter was revived and rejuvenated where she joined Sharon in forming the Daughters of Liberty under the alias of Dryad. Besides Sharon, the only other people who knew were Falcon and Winter Soldier.[17] She assisted the group in working to clear Captain America's name when he was framed for the death of Thunderbolt Ross. Dryad fought Ross' real murder Foreigner until Crossbones and Sin fired a missile at them. Dryad survived while Foreigner presumably perishes.[18] She secretly assists Winter Soldier into feeding false intel on Captain America's whereabouts to Nick Fury Jr. in order to throw him off. After getting some intel from Baron Strucker's mind, Peggy's location is stormed by Nick Fury Jr. and his men while Peggy was asking Sharon when she is going to tell Captain America about her revival. Peggy tells Nick Fury Jr. that he and his men will have to go through her first if they want to get to Captain America. Peggy subdues the soldiers and holds Nick Fury Jr. at gunpoint in order to straighten him out.[19] Deciding it's time to let Steve know about her return, Peggy arranged for Daughters of Liberty teammate Agatha Harkness to bring Steve to her. She revealed to him that she has been tracking Aleksander Lukin ever since the event where Lukin and Selene took a soul fragment from Sharon. In addition, Peggy stated to Steve that Lukin was behind the death of Thunderbolt Ross, the attacks of the Watchdogs, and the new Scourge. Sharon, Falcon, and Winter Soldier enter while explaining why they kept Peggy's revival a secret. Peggy and Winter Soldier reveal to Steve that the soul fragment that manifested as a stone was used to revive Lukin which also revived the remnants of Red Skull's mind that is in him.[17]

Abilities edit

Peggy Carter is shown to be a superb martial artist, also excelling in using firearms. She is a highly trained spy and tactician.

As Dryad, Peggy wears a type of battle armor that is strong enough to protect her from a missile attack and keep her insulated when it is ablaze.

Other versions edit

Peggy Carter (Marvel Cinematic Universe) edit

Full name: Margaret Elizabeth Carter, race: human, citizenship: English/UK, gender: female, date of birth April 9, 1921, date of death June 18, 2016. Title SSR agent (former) Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (former) The founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. dependent on Implementation of special operations (previously) British Armed Forces (formerly) MI5 (formerly) S.H.I.E.L.D. (previously)

Shows Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Avengers: Endgame, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter, What If...(as SSR Agent Peggy Carter and Captain Carter), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (as Captain Carter).

Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter was one of the most prominent agents of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) during World War II and one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was originally a codebreaker working at Bletchley Park following the death of her brother to the spy agency Special Operations.

Carter later joined the SSR and began fighting Hydra. She saved Abraham Erskine from Johann Schmidt during a mission in Germany.

The success of her mission led the SSR to begin Project Rebirth and develop the Super Soldier Serum to build an army of superior soldiers.

During this project, Peggy Carter met Steve Rogers, who was one of the candidates for this project.

In 1943, after Project Rebirth abruptly ended and Rogers became the only super soldier, Carter helped him become the world's first superhero. Rogers and Carter eventually fell in love.

After Rogers disappeared in 1945, Carter continued the fight against HYDRA and captured the last high-ranking officer of the organization, Werner Reinhardt. She continued her service in the SSR after the war. As an SSR agent, Carter helped Howard Stark, her former colleague, clear his charge of being a traitor.

Carter later traveled to Los Angeles to meet up with Stark. During that time, she clashed with Whitney Frost, an actress and scientific genius who had become infected with Substance Zero. Carter later helped Stark found a new peacekeeping organization called SHIELD.

Carter finally met The Allied soldier, married, and became the mother of two children, while continuing to serve in SHIELD.

After the Cold War, Carter became the head of SHIELD until 1970. At the beginning of the 21st century, Carter retired and her niece, Sharon Carter, continued in her footsteps.

During Peggy Carter's resurrection, young Steve Rogers was pulled from the ice and found to be alive, however Carter, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease at this point, barely remembered Rogers. Carter finally passed away in 2016. In 2023 after finding a method of time travel, Rogers returned to the 1940s and created a new timeline where he married Carter and grew old with her.

Amalgam Comics edit

In Super-Soldier: Man of War #1 from Amalgam Comics, Mademoiselle Peggy is a cross between Peggy Carter and DC Comics' World War II version of Mademoiselle Marie.[20]

Captain America edit

The concept of Peggy Carter (modelled after Hayley Atwell) serving as Captain America was created for the game Marvel Puzzle Quest for Captain America's 75th anniversary. She was adapted into the third series of the comic Exiles.[21]

Exiles edit

In Exiles Vol. 3, the titular team is joined by a Peggy Carter (modelled after Hayley Atwell) who became the Captain America of her universe and a female version of Bucky Barnes named Becky Barnes.[21][22][23][24]

Captain Carter edit

As a result of the success of the new Captain Carter from the What If...? animated series, Marvel introduced a similarly-named reinvention of the Exiles Captain America Peggy Carter (modelled after Hayley Atwell) in the comic Captain Carter #1. It is set in its own universe, unrelated to the main Marvel universe or the MCU one. Captain Carter is cryogenically frozen from WWII up to the modern day, as in the usual origin story of Captain America, and discovers that HYDRA is still active.[25]

Another Captain Carter, similar to the MCU character as well, appeared in Avengers Forever #4, a crossover involving the multiverse and many alternate versions of characters.[26] She alongside Warbow and War Widow find Moon Knight and Vision from Earth-818 at the Center of Infinity and recruit them into Avenger Prime's army.[27]

As the Multiversal Avengers and the Avengers of Earth-616 fight the Doctor Doom variants working for Doom Supreme, Captain America of Earth-616 fights alongside Captain Carter as she tells him to maintain the formation.[28]

House of M edit

In the alternate reality created by Scarlet Witch in the 2005 "House of M" storyline, Captain America is never frozen in the Arctic, and instead marries Peggy shortly after World War II ends.[29]

Spider-Gwen edit

On Earth-65, Peggy Carter (designed after Hayley Atwell) is the long-lived director of S.H.I.E.L.D., much like Nick Fury in the primary universe. She also sports an eye patch similar to the one worn by Fury,[30] later recruiting an amnesiac "Mr. Murderhands" to work for her as an assassin.[31]

In other media edit

Television edit

Marvel Cinematic Universe edit

 
Hayley Atwell, who portrays Peggy Carter in the MCU, at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015

Peggy Carter appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Hayley Atwell. This version is a British agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) before co-founding S.H.I.E.L.D. with Howard Stark and becoming the aunt of Sharon Carter. She first appears in the live-action film Captain America: The First Avenger before making subsequent appearances in the live-action Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter,[34][35] the live-action TV series Agent Carter[36] Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[37] and the live-action films Captain America: The Winter Soldier,[34][38][39] Avengers: Age of Ultron,[40] and Ant-Man.[41] While she does not appear in the live-action film Captain America: Civil War, she is stated to have died.[42] Additionally, alternate timeline versions of Peggy appear in the live-action films Avengers: Endgame[43][44] and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)[1] as well as the Disney+ animated series What If...?[45]

Video games edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Garbutt, Emily (5 May 2022). "The Illuminati members in Doctor Strange 2, listed and explained". Total Film. GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Peggy Carter". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  3. ^ "If a Hostage Should Die!" Archived 2018-01-06 at the Wayback Machine, Tales of Suspense #77 (May 1966) at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ^ Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #4
  5. ^ Catherine Saunders, Heather Scott, Julia March, and Alastair Dougall, editors, 2008, Marvel Chronicle: A year by Year History, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 115; ISBN 978-1-4093-8399-4.
  6. ^ Tales of Suspense #77. Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ a b Operation S.I.N. #1. Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Operation S.I.N. #2-5. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Agent Carter: S.H.I.E.L.D. Anniversary #1. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Captain America #161-163. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Captain America #174-175. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Captain America #176. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Captain America #231-236. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ The Avengers #300. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Captain America vol. 5 #45. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Silk vol. 2 #8. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ a b Captain America vol. 9 #19. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Captain America vol. 9 #9-11. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ Captain America vol. 9 #12-13. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Super-Soldier: Man of War #1 (June 1997). Amalgam Comics.
  21. ^ a b Holub, Christian (19 April 2018). "Peggy Carter is Captain America in new Marvel comic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  22. ^ Exiles (2018) #8-12
  23. ^ Future Foundation (2019) #3
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ Captain Carter #1. Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ Brandon Zachary (23 March 2022). "Marvel Makes a What If... Star as a New Leader of The Multiverse". CBR. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  27. ^ Avengers: Forever Vol. 2 #4. Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ Avengers: Forever Vol. 2 #14. Marvel Comics.
  29. ^ Captain America vol. 5 #10 (Oct. 2005). Marvel Comics.
  30. ^ Spider-Gwen #2
  31. ^ Spider-Gwen Vol 2. #20
  32. ^ Awesome, Amy (8 October 2016). "Hayley Atwell Returning As Agent Carter". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  33. ^ "New Year's Resolution". Avengers Assemble. Season 4. Episode 14. 3 December 2017. Disney XD.
  34. ^ a b Breznican, Anthony (11 July 2013). "'Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter' -- First Look at poster and three photos from the new short!". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  35. ^ Breznican, Anthony (11 July 2013). "'Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter' --First Look at poster and three photos from the new short! (Part 3)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  36. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (17 January 2014). "Marvel's 'Agent Carter': Hayley Atwell, Writers, Showrunners Confirmed for ABC Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  37. ^ "Learn How Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Begins Its Second Season". Marvel.com. 8 September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  38. ^ "Captain America: The Winter Soldier Begins Filming". Marvel Comics. April 8, 2013.
  39. ^ Failes, Ian (1 May 2014). "Captain America: The Winter Soldier – reaching new heights". Fxguide. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  40. ^ Dumaraog, Ana (20 February 2023). "Captain America's Age Of Ultron Vision Revealed 1 Big Avenger Difference". Screen Rant. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  41. ^ Panos, Maggie (25 July 2015). "Ant-Man: Why the 3 People in That Opening Scene Are Important". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  42. ^ Romano, Nick (19 May 2015). "The First Captain America: Civil War Death Has Already Been Leaked". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  43. ^ Robinson, Joanna (25 April 2019). "Avengers: The Hidden Meaning Behind That Final Endgame Song". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  44. ^ Sirikul, Laura (27 April 2019). "Why 'Avengers: Endgame' Final Scene Isn't What It Seems". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  45. ^ Chitwood, Adam (12 April 2019). "Marvel's What If? Disney+ Series Will Launch with Peggy Carter Episode". Collider. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  46. ^ Kevin Kelly (27 July 2011). "Captain America: Super Soldier Review - Xbox 360". G4. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  47. ^ Slead, Evan (27 June 2016). "Captain America: Peggy Carter wields the shield in new Marvel Game". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 April 2019.

External links edit