Peggy Carter

Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter was one of the most prominent agents of the Strategic Scientific Reserve during and after World War II and one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Originally a code-breaker working at Bletchley Park, she joined the Special Operations Executive following her brother's death. Carter later joined the SSR, formed to fight HYDRA. On the mission in Germany she and fellow agent and friend, Milly Taylor, saved Abraham Erskine from Johann Schmidt. The success of the mission enabled the SSR to start Project Rebirth and develop their Super Soldier Serum to make the army of Super Soldiers. During the project she had befriended Steve Rogers, one of the project's candidates..

In 1943, after the abrupt end of Project Rebirth and Rogers' transformation into the only Super Soldier, Carter assisted him in becoming the world's first superhero, eventually falling in love with him. After Rogers' disappearance in 1945, she continued the SSR's fight against HYDRA, capturing the last high-ranking HYDRA officer Werner Reinhardt, and continuing her service in the SSR once the War ended.

As an agent of the SSR, Carter helped former colleague Howard Stark clear his name when he was accused of being a traitor, and later travelled to Los Angeles where she and clashed with Whitney Frost over the extra-dimensional Zero Matter. She helped Stark and Taylor found the new peacekeeping organization the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known by its acronym S.H.I.E.L.D. In 1958, she and Howard Stark helped hide Milly Taylor and their young daughter, Emma, after an accident surrounding the Super Soldier Serum. She eventually married an Allied soldier and became a mother of two children, though she would continue her service in S.H.I.E.L.D. during the turbulent years of the Cold War, becoming the agency's Director by 1970.

By the beginning of the 21st century, Carter retired and saw her niece Sharon Carter follow in her footsteps. It was this time Peggy raised Amira Stark, the daughter of the too young Tony Stark. During her retirement, a young Rogers was pulled from the ice and found to be alive, but by this time she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and struggled to recognize him. She died peacefully in her sleep in 2016.

Later Life
"You were always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather mucked it up." "You didn't. Knowing you helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. is half the reason I stayed."

- Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers

Carter continued working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve until 1949. During the same year, Carter personally oversaw the construction of a secret base that would later become known as the Playground. After that, Carter became the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., working alongside Howard Stark.

Sometime after the war, Carter married a man who had been saved by Captain America and together, they had a son and daughter. In 1953, Carter was interviewed about Rogers and their involvement in the war. She explained how she and Rogers met and worked together during Project Rebirth, with him changing her life long after his demise. Carter began crying when asked about speaking to Rogers in his final moments. This footage was on display at the Captain America Exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.

Braddock's Unit
"Sergeant? Hang up and call Air Command. Braddock needs back up, immediately." "Ma'am?" "Those aren't lightning strikes he's looking at..."

- Peggy Carter to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent

In 1970, Carter was still working as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Howard Stark and Mitchell Carson, based out of Camp Lehigh. On April 7 of that year, Carter had a meeting with other agents outside her office. When she asked for Agent Braddock's unit to be brought in, an agent informed her that they had been stopped by lightning strikes, much to Carter's frustration. She then told him she would look at the weather projections, which revealed to her that it wasn't lighting strikes at all, so she rushed out to break this news.

Working with Ant-Man
"Sometime you won't know what you're working with until you're in the moment... so you have to improvise."

- Peggy Carter to Hank Pym

In 1987, Carter worked with Hank Pym, a young scientist who invented particles and a suit that could shrink a human being to the size of an ant, yet maintain his original strength. When a group of radicals in the Soviet-controlled East Berlin discovered a piece of old HYDRA technology, Howard Stark wanted to send an agent to Germany and stop them from reverse-engineering it.

However, Pym was unwilling to give his suit to anyone else, so Carter convinced him to go to Berlin personally. To see if the suit actually worked, she fired a few bullets at Pym, and he became small like an ant in the blink of an eye, proving he was ready for the mission. He left for Berlin later that day.

When Pym returned from his mission in Berlin, he informed Carter and Stark about what had happened there. Stark tried to prohibit Pym from being able to do any further missions, but Pym stated that the only way the organization could use Pym Particles was if he was using them. Pym then implied that he was willing to help in any future missions available to him.

Hank Pym's Retirement
"We shouldn't let him leave the building." "You’ve already lied to him, now you want to go to war with him?"

- Mitchell Carson and Peggy Carter

In 1989, Hank Pym announced his resignation from the organization before Carter, Howard Stark and Mitchell Carson, after he had discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. was trying to replicate the Pym Particles from the Ant-Man technology, showing his anger by slamming Carson's head onto the desk after he insulted him.

Carter and Stark attempted to convince Pym to reconsider, reminding him not to allow the death of his beloved wife, Janet van Dyne, to destroy the good work he had achieved at S.H.I.E.L.D.; however, Pym refused to give up the Pym Particles for as long as he was alive and left the Triskelion. As Pym exited out of the room, Carter watched and listened as Carson advised that Pym should be restrained and not get out of the building. Carter turned to Carson and advised him not to make Pym his enemy after he lied to him.

Retirement
Years later, Carter's great-niece Sharon Carter would grow an interest in S.H.I.E.L.D., and Carter would strongly support her becoming an agent, even buying Sharon her first thigh holster. However, Sharon never disclosed her relation to Carter due to the pressure of living up to her.

Reunited with Steve Rogers
"You're alive! You... you came, you came back." "Yeah, Peggy." "It's been so long. So long." "Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance."

- Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers

Before 2012, Carter had quit S.H.I.E.L.D. and retired. In her advanced age, she now had, which forced her to stay at a retirement home in Washington, D.C.. After Steve Rogers returned from being frozen for nearly seventy years, he was given files about his allies from the 1940s, including Peggy Carter's. Thinking about calling her, he decided against it, afraid of her seeing him still young.

Two years after he was saved, Rogers eventually went to visit her at the retirement home where she lived. Lucidly, Carter told him that it was a different world out there but after a few minutes of conversation, she suddenly forget their previous conversations and thought she was meeting him for the first time since the Battle in the Valkyrie because in her mind, that was the last time they spoke.

Death and Funeral
"I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage at a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, “Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, 'No, you move.'”."

- Sharon Carter

Carter died in her sleep on June 18, 2016. Steve Rogers served as a pallbearer during her funeral, where she was eulogized by her great-niece, Sharon Carter.

Stealing the Space Stone
"I said bring them in." "They're trying, ma'am, but Braddock's unit has been stopped by lightning strikes." "Oh, for the love of... I'll look at the weather projections."

- Peggy Carter and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent

In an alternative 1970, Carter entered her office with a fellow agent, as she asked him to bring in Braddock's unit, However, the agent reported that the unit was stopped by lighting strikes, frustrating Carter. She then told him she would look at the weather projections, which revealed to her that it wasn't lighting strikes at all, so she rushed out to break this news. The entire time, Carter was unaware that Steve Rogers from 2023 was standing on the opposite side of the window.

Marrying Steve Rogers
"You wanna tell me about her?" "No. No, I don't think I will."

- Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers

In an alternative 1949, while Carter was in her home she was shocked when Steve Rogers, who had travelled from the year 2023, arrived on her doorstep. The two then immediately had their dance that Rogers had promised her, as they held each other in their arms, sharing a kiss. Carter and Rogers would go on to live the rest of their lives together, secretly getting married and possibly having a child later on. This would create an alternate reality, which Rogers would leave after Carter's death in 2016.

Personality
"I don't need a, I don't need Agent Thompson's approval, or the 's. I know my value. Anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter."

- Peggy Carter to Daniel Sousa

Carter was tough and resilient, standing strong whenever she was mistreated, be it by man or woman. She had a sarcastic streak, and could also become close to a select few people, such as Steve Rogers, Howard Stark, Edwin Jarvis, and a few others. Though she believed in morality, she was willing to lie if the situation called for it, including the period when she was hiding her involvement with Howard Stark from the SSR.

A loyal soldier, Carter was willing to do whatever was needed to get the job done, very nearly having Howard Stark shot out of the sky, when he was endangering the city of New York. Such sacrifices wounded her; she did not enjoy it. Being somewhat no-nonsense, Carter did not take kindly to messing about during a mission or when there was work to be done. She was also quite clever, always able to work her way out of a pinch at a moment's notice. Though her number of dear friends was slim, she was exceedingly appreciative to those she had.

Abilities
"I conducted my own investigation because no one listens to me. I got away with it because no one looks at me."

- Peggy Carter

"Do as Peggy says!"
 * Master Spy: Carter was able to infiltrate Castle Kaufmann and free Abraham Erskine with her disguise as "Eva". Likewise, she was able to flawlessly mimic other accents. She knew how to manipulate the sexist stereotypes of her time to her advantage by bringing coffee to a meeting in order to spy on it and seducing a man to gain information. She also spent time at Bletchley Park during the early years of World War II, learning code breaking skills.
 * Master Investigator: Carter was able to solve the Leviathan case very efficiently, including deducing that the person who manipulated Stark would be one of the women he had been with, and that that woman would likely have scars on her wrists from years of handcuffing herself to a bedpost. In a lot of cases Carter was able to connect evidence or spot things that her colleagues missed.
 * Master Combatant: Carter was a highly skilled martial artist. Carter used her fighting skills to defeat Sasha Demidov before he could kill her. She was able to defeat several highly skilled agents with little effort. Despite initially being overwhelmed, Carter managed to defeat Dottie Underwood, a highly skilled Red Room assassin. Carter was also able to silently subdue the guards of the Zodiac. Carter used a direct and highly versatile fighting style; she was adept at constantly using her surroundings to her advantage. Carter was able to quickly use the weapons or clothing of her opponents against them. Highly opportunistic and able to improvise quickly, Carter could use nearly every item available to her as an improvised weapon.
 * Expert Marksman: During the assassination of Abraham Erskine, Carter was able to kill the driver of Heinz Kruger, as he drove towards her, without fear of being hit. She chided Rogers for interrupting her shot when she aimed for Kruger. While trying to obtain Zodiac, Carter shot at a steel door multiple times hitting the same spot to create a hole large enough for the gas grenade she had planned to drop.

- Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson


 * Expert Tactician: Though they were all seasoned war veterans, the Howling Commandos took instruction from Carter on how to infiltrate the Red Room Academy, following her leadership on how to divide the men and what to do in a given situation. Though both leaders of their respective branches of the SSR, Thompson and Sousa referred to Carter's plan to fight Whitney Frost.
 * Scientist: Carter had knowledge of chemistry, knowing how to use simple household items to create a compound necessary to defuse a bomb.
 * Thief: Carter was able to pickpocket an access card from an employee of Isodyne Energy with ease; however, she was not successful in using her Brooch Key to access Daniel Sousa's desk because he was too close to her.
 * Multilingualism: Carter could speak and read English, Russian and German fluently.

Espionage Gear

 * Pick-Lock Wristwatch: A mechanism designed to crack the combination of any safe, and concealed as a small wristwach that Carter used to crack a safe with the Nitramene formula and bomb in it.
 * Sweet Dreams Lipstick: A sleep-inducing compound disguised as a lipstick that Carter used on Spider Raymond and a guard keeping Dottie Underwood in custody.
 * Brooch Key: A small picklock device that carter used to get into Daniel Sousa's file drawer.
 * Camera Pen: A photographic camera disguised as a common pen that carter used to photograph the previously stolen inventions of Howard Stark that the Strategic Scientific Reserve had confiscated.
 * Hot Wire: To be added

Other Equipment

 * Bulletproof Vest: To be added
 * Grappling Hook Gun: Carter used this to escape with Abraham Erskine from Castle Kaufmann.
 * Stun Light Device: Peggy Carter utilized this while infiltrating the Roxxon Refinery in search of Leviathan's Nitramene bombs. She stunned Miles Van Ert with the device before pursuing Leet Brannis.
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Pin: At the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D., pins with the symbol of the agency were given to every agent, including Carter.

Facilities

 * St Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls: To be added
 * Bletchley Park: To be added
 * Camp Lehigh: To be added
 * Griffith Hotel: To be added
 * New York Bell Company Office: To be added
 * Auerbach Theatrical Agency: To be added
 * Playground: To be added
 * Triskelion: To be added

Family

 * Grandmother †
 * Harrison Carter † - Father
 * Amanda Carter † - Mother
 * Michael Carter - Brother
 * Husband
 * Son
 * Daughter
 * Niece-in-Law
 * Sharon Carter - Great-Niece
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America - Husband (alternate timeline)
 * Joseph Rogers † - Father-in-Law (alternate timeline)
 * Sarah Rogers † - Mother-in-Law (alternate timeline)

Allies

 * Edwards - Former Employer
 * Fred Wells - Former Fiancé
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve - Temporary Enemies
 * Roger Dooley † - Former Superior
 * Jack Thompson - Former Superior
 * John Flynn - Former Superior
 * Abraham Erskine † - Colleague and Friend
 * Lorraine - Colleague and Rival
 * Rose Roberts - Colleague and Friend
 * Ray Krzeminski † - Colleague
 * Butch Wallace - Colleague
 * Yauch † - Colleague
 * Henry - Colleague
 * Corcoran † - Colleague
 * Alex Doobin - Colleague
 * Vega - Colleague
 * Aloysius Samberly - Colleague
 * Johnson - Colleague
 * Miller - Colleague
 * Wilkes - Colleague
 * United States Army
 * Michael Duffy
 * Gilmore Hodge
 * Howling Commandos
 * Bucky Barnes
 * Dum Dum Dugan - Friend
 * Gabe Jones
 * James Montgomery Falsworth †
 * Jim Morita †
 * Jacques Dernier †
 * Junior Juniper †
 * Pinky Pinkerton
 * Happy Sam Sawyer
 * Angie Martinelli - Friend and Former Neighbor
 * Colleen O'Brien † - Friend and Former Roommate
 * Stark Industries
 * Edwin Jarvis † - Friend
 * Anton Vanko †
 * Jason Wilkes - Former Love Interest and Friend
 * Griffith Hotel
 * Miriam Fry - Former Landlady
 * Carol - Former Neighbor
 * Vera - Former Neighbor
 * Gloria - Former Neighbor
 * Lorraine - Former Neighbor
 * Helen - Former Neighbor
 * Molly Bowden - Former Neighbor
 * Pete - Friend
 * Ana Jarvis - Friend
 * Violet
 * Joseph Manfredi - Former Enemy
 * Chung
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation)
 * Milly Taylor - Best Friend, Partner and Co-Founder
 * Howard Stark † - Friend and Co-Founder
 * Chester Phillips † - Former Superior and Co-Founder
 * Daniel Sousa † - Former Superior and Ex-Boyfriend
 * Hank Pym
 * Janet van Dyne
 * Mitchell Carson
 * Phyllis Jenkins
 * Braddock
 * John F. Kennedy †

Enemies

 * HYDRA
 * Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
 * Arnim Zola †
 * Heinz Kruger †
 * Werner Reinhardt †
 * Leviathan
 * Johann Fennhoff - Former Ally
 * Dottie Underwood - Temporary Ally
 * Sasha Demidov † - Victim
 * Leet Brannis †
 * Miles Van Ert
 * Spider Raymond †
 * Jerome Zandow †
 * Otto Mink †
 * Nikola † - Former Ally
 * Andrew Henry †
 * Council of Nine
 * Calvin Chadwick †
 * Hugh Jones
 * Rufus Hunt †
 * Whitney Frost
 * Receptionist
 * Manfredi Crime Family

Trivia

 * In the comics, Margaret Alexandra "Peggy" Carter was an American freedom fighter with the French Resistance during World War II, and her relationship with Gabe Jones was one of the first inter-racial relationships in comics.
 * In the comics, Cynthia Glass shares many physical and biographical similarities with the MCU version of Peggy Carter, such as being a friend and love interest to Steve Rogers both before and after his transformation, and being considered his first love. However, Glass was a Nazi spy who sacrificed her life to save Rogers from the Red Skull.
 * According to S.H.I.E.L.D. Files, Peggy joined the Special Air Service (SAS) in 1936. In reality, SAS wasn't formed before July 1941. The file also says prior to this she served as a British Air Force Nurse from 1934-1936. None of this history has been referenced on screen only that she was a code-breaker so it should be taken as non-canon along with some other inaccurate information presented at the time due to her history not being as fleshed out when that Deleted Scene was written.
 * Her S.H.I.E.L.D. file also lists her time with the SSR as being from 1950-1985. Presumably, this was actually her time with S.H.I.E.L.D. as her time with the Strategic Science Reserve was listed above this line. Whether or not it was her time with S.H.I.E.L.D. it was regardless proven to be false as she was still shown to be with S.H.I.E.L.D. by 1989.
 * The file also lists her date of birth as April 9th, 1919. This was later proven to be slightly off to where she actually was born in 1921.
 * Carter and Dottie Underwood shared the first same-sex kiss in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
 * Carter shares her middle name "Elizabeth" with her actress, Hayley Elizabeth Atwell.
 * Milly Taylor and Bucky Barnes, two of Carter's best friends, named their daughter in honor of her, Margaret Sarah Barnes.

Behind the Scenes

 * There was a planned scene for The Avengers where Steve Rogers reunites with an elderly Carter, but said scene was never filmed. The idea was eventually recycled and integrated into Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, there is a deleted scene in The Avengers where Rogers finds files about the deceased Howling Commandos and Carter. Her address and telephone number are on the file, but Rogers decides to not make a call.
 * Peggy Carter is the most frequently recurring secondary character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having been featured in six movies (Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame), a one-shot and two TV series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter).
 * was offered the role, but she turned it down.
 * Peggy Carter almost didn't appear in Avengers: Endgame with her presence during the Theft of the Space Stone sequence not included in the first draft: "Our first draft did not have this, and it would have been a shame," confirmed Stephen McFeely "It's really lovely. Just the structure of the scene. The production design, setting up this office in such a way that he can be in shadow and she can be in light."
 * Kelly J. Dent, Shauna Duggins, Kimberly Shannon Murphy were stunt doubles for Hayley Atwell in the role of Peggy Carter.
 * Caridad Angus and Monique Davis were stand-ins for Hayley Atwell in the role of Peggy Carter.
 * Emma Lillie Lees was a photo double for Hayley Atwell in the role of Peggy Carter.