Is Sharon Carter Being Set Up to Be the Primary Villain of ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’?
Annlyel James 
Could Marvel Studios be about to change the landscape of the MCU by turning Sharon Carter into the villain of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier?
Why is the Captain America Trilogy the best in the MCU? Because its movies have surprising storylines that change the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever (plus, they’re just really good.)
It began with Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Steve Rogers was forced to go rogue and takedown S.H.I.E.L.D when he discovered it had been infiltrated by Hydra. Then Civil War introduced Zemo. A brilliant mastermind who wanted to see the Avengers destroy each other, specifically Rogers and Stark. He succeeded in bringing about The Avengers’ breakup. And the inclusion of the Sokovia Accords is obviously still affecting the Avengers and other characters to this day.
Now we’ve got The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and it seems to be following its predecessors in delivering a story that is not only entertaining but will change the scope of the MCU forever.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
In the latest episode of this riveting series, we learned that a mysterious character called the Power Broker had a brilliant scientist by the name of Dr. William Nagel recreate the Super Soldier Serum…twenty vials of it! Karli Morgenthau and her rebellious group, the Flag Smashers, stole the vials and now the Power Broker is after them. But who is this “Power Broker”?
Well, after the latest episode and our reuniting with Sharon Carter my spidey-sense has been alerted and I am one of a few who thinks that Carter could potentially be the Power Broker. (*gasp* Plot twist!) Here’s why.
When last we saw Sharon Carter she had stolen Cap’s shield and Falcon’s wings to help them hunt down the Winter Soldiers they believed Zemo was going to reintroduce to the world. She then went into hiding for seven! years (because nothing seems to be indicating that she got Blipped.) That’s a great deal of time. And in that amount of time characters’ motivations can change.
Thanks to her attitude toward Sam and Bucky, we see that she clearly is over the whole red, white, and blue, star-spangled man with a plan Captain America thing. And that she’s kind of sore against The Avengers, and for good reason. While the world’s citizens thank The Avengers for their fight against Thanos and the return of the ones who have been blipped, Sharon didn’t get any praise. She was left to fend for herself on a pirate island, Madripoor, down in the South China Sea.
Madripoor
Of course, we meet her in Madripoor, the home of the Power Broker. Apparently, she’s rich now and has a guarded mansion full of illegally stolen artworks where she has parties and conducts business with criminals. This all seems a bit too perfect for a former S.H.I.E.L.D/CIA/Deputy Task Force agent.
According to everyone who knows anything about the Power Broker, “he” runs a tight ship. Would he really let someone like Sharon run this “hustling” game of hers in his city without his permission? I mean, are we supposed to believe he doesn’t know about her in his jurisdiction? I don’t think so…unless she is another one of the Power Broker’s pawns.
Of course, there’s the fact that she willingly helped Sam, Bucky, and Zemo locate Dr. Nagel and saved them from the bounty hunters. But as she gets into her car after leaving the fellas she says to her driver, “We’ve got a couple of situations.” What does that mean? And why have we not seen other clips from her in the show in the trailers and tv spots? Because it could potentially be too spoiler-y…because she’s actually the villain.
Power Broker
So that leads me to the biggest question? If she is the Power Broker (which would be such a plot twist) why was she so fascinated in recreating the Super Soldier Serum? The only answer I have for that is the idea of her wanting to create her own little army down in Madripoor. Making her one of the most powerful crime bosses in the world.
Of course, this is just a theory and could be TOTALLY wrong. But I would love the idea of the Power Broker being someone that we know rather than some Kingpin-looking fellow that we would readily expect. And like I said before, these Captain America movies are known are for their surprising plot twists and this twist would send the show deeper into awesomeness.
(Gosh, I hope this happens. I like the idea of Sharon Carter being a villain.)
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is streaming exclusively on Disney+ Now!
Annlyel James is a Senior Correspondent of The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter where she channels the Force frequently!
