During the first phase of the MCU, Marvel’s casting choices were nothing short of miraculous. Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark launched a domino effect that transformed the face of Hollywood. Then the Thor franchise introduced the showstopping double-act of Hiddleston and Hemsworth, and Captain America: The First Avenger gave us two of the best MCU supporting characters to date: Sebastian Stan’s deceptively complicated Bucky Barnes, and Hayley Atwell's charismatic Peggy Carter.
Peggy arrived at a time when superhero movies were still figuring out how to revamp and de-tokenize the roles for female love-interests. (And to be frank, that process is still ongoing.) In the 1940s pastiche setting of Captain America, her relationship with Steve Rogers hinged on an appealingly unusual power dynamic. As an established officer working with the federal supersoldier program, Peggy is Steve’s commander, and then colleague. The film draws a contrast between the posturing masculinity of the other prospective supersoldiers, versus Steve’s instinctive respect for Peggy’s abilities. He treats her as an equal — perhaps even as a superior — and we can easily see how they relate to each other as outsiders. Then their budding romance gets cut short by Steve’s apparent demise, leaving Peggy to build a new life in his absence.
