Although Peggy Carter existed in the Marvel Comics universe long before Captain America: The First Avenger came out, Hayley Atwell propelled the character to new heights of popularity with her portrayal across various MCU movies and a short-lived TV series. Atwell most recently reprised Peggy in Avengers: Endgame, which ended with us seeing her and Steve Rogers finally reunited in the late 1940s and having that dance.
With Avengers: Endgame wrapping up many MCU plot threads, it’s possible this could be the last time we see Peggy Carter on the big screen. If that’s the case, Hayley Atwell is okay with her reunion and Steve finally ending up together as a final chapter of sorts. When asked what her reaction was to the Steve/Peggy scene, Atwell responded:
I thought it was a fitting end to a story that has affected so many people. I thought it was very endearing, innocent and wholesome in the way that it keeps those characters in their time. I thought it was quite beautiful and very tasteful of Marvel to finish this 10-year story in a very simple storyline about two human beings — and one of them doesn’t even have any superpowers. So, I thought the tone of it, to end there, after some extraordinary things of trauma, action, effects and powers… to just have two people slow-dancing was very beautiful.
Hayley Atwell also briefly popped up as Peggy Carter earlier in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers and Tony Stark traveled back to 1970 and Steve noticed her in a nearby office. As Hayley Atwell explained to THR, she filmed her Endgame scenes two years ago, and there wasn’t any deleted material from her brief time with the production. She was called in just to film those two scenes.
Chronologically speaking, Peggy Carter’s story ended in Captain America: Civil War, when she passed away (with possibly two Steve Rogers’ attending her funeral). Narratively though, I agree with Hayley Atwell’s assessment that Steve and Peggy ending up back together in Avengers: Endgame is fitting. After approximately more than a decade of fighting the forces of evil, and following Natasha Romanoff and Iron Man’s deaths, Steve finally decided to retire from superhero-ing and return to the woman he still loved after all this time.
Even if Avengers: Endgame ends up Peggy Carter’s last cinematic appearance, it’s not the last we’ll see of Hayley Atwell’s version of the character… or rather, hear. The actress will vocally reprise Peggy for the animated Disney+ series Marvel’s What If?…, which revisits major moments in MCU history and shows them unfolding with different outcomes. The first episode of the series will show what would have happened if Peggy had been injected with the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers, who ends up donning a metal suit built by Howard Stark.
It’s also rumored that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s seventh and final season could see some characters from the Agent Carter series showing up, including Peggy Carter. Should that happen, that would wrap up another chapter of the Peggy Carter story, namely her television journey, which was never properly concluded due to Agent Carter’s cancellation.
The film side of the MCU will pick back up when Black Widow is released on May 1, 2020, followed by The Eternals on November 6 of the same year. As for what else is coming, check out our Marvel movies guide for that information.
