For all the ways in which “Avengers: Endgame” brought the Marvel Cinematic Universe full circle after over 11 years of intricately overlaid stories, its final shot of Captain America – Infinity Stones having been returned to their rightful place post-Thanos defeat – dancing with Peggy Carter in the light of mid-century suburbia was perhaps the film’s most unexpected and unexpectedly tender bit of closure.
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But an earlier draft of the script – presumably when dozens of potential endings both monumental and intimate were still being considered – explored the possibility of Steve Rogers trying to make a life with yet another, 21st-century Carter: Sharon (Emily VanCamp). In case you don’t remember, Sharon is Peggy’s great-niece, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who Cap shares a kiss with amid the events of “Captain America: Civil War” (see below).
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Speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment about the storylines that had to be trimmed or left out of “Endgame” altogether (this is a three-hour movie after all), screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus touched on the relationships considered over the course of writing “Endgame” when the idea of a Rogers-Carter household was brought up.
And, according to McFeely, it seems like what we might have seen wasn’t a perfect relationship.
“We had a first draft where Steve was living with Sharon Carter and it wasn’t going very well,” said McFeely, who teamed up with Markus to pen six total MCU entries, including the last two “Avengers” films and the universe’s “Captain America” trilogy.
Sharon Carter is one of the very few MCU characters, be they a franchise regular or a sideline personality, not seen or even mentioned among the already-packed assemble that is “Avengers: Endgame.” And while it’s never made clear if Sharon survived the Snapocalypse, it’s nonetheless enticing to think of a version of the script where she and Rogers attempt to make a life for themselves while also reckoning with the team of heroes’ initial failure.
Constructing a big payoff between Rogers and Sharon Carter – a character with one of the biggest bulk of screentime in these movies and one with what feels like the smallest – could have derailed the momentum of an otherwise deftly-paced monster of a movie, and McFeely says as much.
“Anything that was not about the stones, Thanos, ‘We’re in trouble’ (or) this propulsive narrative got jettisoned,” he said.
Markus added they realized the importance of limiting any detours from that plot-driven narrative of defeating Thanos and reversing the actions of “Infinity War.”
“If it was a relationship scene, it would have to be a relationship scene about how depressed they are because of Thanos,” he said. “Everything is under that heading.”
The inclusion of a relationship between Steve and Sharon would also have undercut the eventual satisfying ending (at least for now) of Cap’s story with Peggy. After finally making good on their dance teased way back in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” it’s a bit awkward to imagine him following that up with admitting to having kissed her eventual great-niece in a past/future that (maybe? definitely?) has now been erased after the time-warping events of “Endgame.” As for Sharon Carter? We haven’t seen the last of her and VanCamp is currently in negotiations to appear on “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier” limited-series on Disney+.
“Avengers: Endgame” is still in theaters and continuing its onslaught of the box office.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Qe_HK6xi8
