‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Fans Have a Dark Theory About Sharon Carter’s True Identity

Marvel‘s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier just wrapped up late last month, and it was met with much enthusiasm from fans everywhere. The series is fast-paced and full of fascinating details, which gives fans on Reddit plenty of room to theorize on the motives and backgrounds of main and side characters. One fan theory about Sharon Carter is particularly interesting.

What is ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’?

Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a miniseries that debuted on Disney+ from late March 2021 to late April 2021 for six episodes. The show follows the story of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes teaming up after Wilson was given the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

Sam Wilson is Falcon for much of the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but later becomes Captain America when he is given Captain America’s shield and mantle. Bucky Barnes’ alter ego is Winter Soldier, and he is a cyborg that underwent brainwashing by the Soviet Union. He was used as a killing machine for fifty years until he was freed from his brainwashing after the Battle at the Triskelion.

In Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it’s clear that Barnes struggles with his dark past and endures plenty of traumas from all the killing he had done for all those years. The main premise of the show is Falcon and the Winter Soldier trying to stop the Flag Smashers, an anarchist group who have enhanced strength thanks to the Power Broker. 

Who is Sharon Carter?

According to IMDb, Emily VanCamp plays Sharon Carter, the great-niece of Peggy Carter, the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D, or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Carter initially goes undercover, playing a nurse while living next to Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she is revealed to be hiding in Madripoor. 

Wilson and Barnes need help to find a scientist who created more Super-Soldier serum, and Carter points them in the right direction. She later meets them back in the US, and the three of them work to challenge and destroy the Flag Smashers. The series later reveals darker aspects of Carter’s past, which has given rise to some interesting fan theories on Reddit. 

Dark fan theories about Sharon Carter 

Within The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it is revealed that Carter was at one time the Powerbroker, which was later taken over by Karli Morgenthau and doled power out to the Flag Smashers. In a recent Reddit discussion, one fan posted about their theory behind Carter’s motives. Some on the subreddit believe that Carter took over the position of the Powerbroker when she had gone unaccounted for after being on the “blipped list” in Avengers: Endgame. 

According to the theory, she took advantage of the ambiguity and killed anyone who knew the identity of the previous Powerbroker, and assumed the position herself. It is thought that when Sam and Bucky meet with her in Madripoor, she sees that her enterprise will eventually crumble, and decides to sell secrets to ultimately get a pardon from the United States government. 

Carter is known to be intelligent and cunning, so many on the subreddit agree with the theory and enjoy the mystery that surrounds Carter’s motives. Many fans on the subreddit also believe that Carter’s presence in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier serves as more of an introduction to the character, and we may see more of her in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward.