Peggy Carter may not have any superpowers, but if you look at Captain America: The First Avenger, it’s as much of a heroic origin story for her as it is for Steve Rogers. In fact, in that regard it subverts one of the most overused tropes in the action movie genre: the fridged girlfriend. Instead of rescuing his love interest from a supervillain or having to avenge her death, Captain America’s motivation is tied up in the kidnap and eventual death of his friend Bucky. So while Peggy Carter is technically his love interest (or alternatively, Steve is hers), from a storytelling perspective she’s more like an authority figure than a traditional female romantic lead. And from the point of view of her life story, Steve Rogers himself is the “fridged girlfriend.” If you interpret the movie as Peggy’s origin story as a hero, Steve is the love interest who dies too young, inspiring for her to forge ahead with her life and become one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., thus changing the Marvel universe forever. -source: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw on the Daily Dot
She's a character so amazing that Captain America had to be fridged to give her a sufficiently epic origin story.
This is so true! When I saw Peggy run out of the shop front and attempt to gun down the Nazi/Hydra spy, my first thought was Wow, this lady is really amazing.
Hayley Atwell took what had the potential to be a thankless, secondary role, and made it her own. She believes in Steve, both before and after the serum, while his admiration for her helps inspire him to go further. They were both remarkable people before they met each other. But their influence on one another is what leads them to fully "be all they can be". It's only a tragic shame their love never gets the same chance to grow.
Yet--that's part of what makes the stories of both characters so strong. Too often in stories with a science fiction or fantasy, a convenient plot device resolves all loose ends and grants a happy ending in the last 5 minutes. But not here. Maybe Peggy's love was physically super human. But her lot is the all too human one of many war survivors. As far as she knows (until 70 years later) Steve is dead, and all she can do is try to move on.
For Steve also, as is shown in subsequent MCU films, his chance at making a life with Peggy is dead, even if she is alive, and this is the harsh reality he must face. No super serum can speed the healing of these characters' wounds.
We still don't know if Agent Carter will get a second season. But I think we can say that Peggy Carter as an important fixture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here to stay.
Peggy Carter may not have any superpowers, but if you look at Captain America: The First Avenger, it’s as much of a heroic origin story for her as it is for Steve Rogers. In fact, in that regard it subverts one of the most overused tropes in the action movie genre: the fridged girlfriend. Instead of rescuing his love interest from a supervillain or having to avenge her death, Captain America’s motivation is tied up in the kidnap and eventual death of his friend Bucky. So while Peggy Carter is technically his love interest (or alternatively, Steve is hers), from a storytelling perspective she’s more like an authority figure than a traditional female romantic lead. And from the point of view of her life story, Steve Rogers himself is the “fridged girlfriend.” If you interpret the movie as Peggy’s origin story as a hero, Steve is the love interest who dies too young, inspiring for her to forge ahead with her life and become one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., thus changing the Marvel universe forever. -source: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw on the Daily Dot
She's a character so amazing that Captain America had to be fridged to give her a sufficiently epic origin story.
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Hayley Atwell took what had the potential to be a thankless, secondary role, and made it her own. She believes in Steve, both before and after the serum, while his admiration for her helps inspire him to go further. They were both remarkable people before they met each other. But their influence on one another is what leads them to fully "be all they can be". It's only a tragic shame their love never gets the same chance to grow.
Yet--that's part of what makes the stories of both characters so strong. Too often in stories with a science fiction or fantasy, a convenient plot device resolves all loose ends and grants a happy ending in the last 5 minutes. But not here. Maybe Peggy's love was physically super human. But her lot is the all too human one of many war survivors. As far as she knows (until 70 years later) Steve is dead, and all she can do is try to move on.
For Steve also, as is shown in subsequent MCU films, his chance at making a life with Peggy is dead, even if she is alive, and this is the harsh reality he must face. No super serum can speed the healing of these characters' wounds.
We still don't know if Agent Carter will get a second season. But I think we can say that Peggy Carter as an important fixture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here to stay.
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