Hayley Atwell Does Not Approve Of Captain America Romancing Sharon Carter

Steve and Peggy's romance was one of the very best things about Captain America: The First Avenger, a bittersweet subplot that humanized one of Marvel's most unfailingly noble heroes and gave us one of the franchise's greatest heroines. Alas, their love story ended when Cap crashed his plane into the ocean. By the time he emerged from his Capsicle coma 70 years later, she was an old woman with a failing memory.

So in Captain America: Civil War, he finally moves on... with her much, much younger niece Sharon (played by Emily VanCamp). Their romance is possibly the worst thing about Captain America: Civil War, a half-hearted flirtation that culminates in a tepid kiss. And it turns out Aunt Peggy doesn't approve either. Recently, Peggy Carter herself — well, actress Hayley Atwell — joked that this was the kind of "disrespectful" relationship could drive her character to supervillainy. 

Carter addressed the Captain America Sharon Carter romance during an appearance at the Dallas Comic Con Fan Expo, as reported by IGN:

Well, first of all she'd be turning over in her grave. She'd be like 'no.' And she'd inject herself with the blue serum and become a super villain. She'd break out of her coffin and ground [Sharon]. She'd ground her. Then she'd kick Steve's ass as well.

This is obviously a crazy idea, and Atwell is just kidding around here. But part of me wants to see this happen, if only because it'd bring Atwell's Peggy Carter into the modern-day MCU and squelch that dim Steve / Sharon romance, all in one fell swoop. Plus, as Atwell points out, Cap making out with his dead ex-girlfriend's niece is just kind of creepy:

I just feel that, you know – I wouldn't want to date my great aunt's guy. It just feels like it crosses an incestuous boundary. And Peggy just died. That's even more disrespectful, right? It's like, 'don't touch that.' You can't tap that!

But it's not just that Peggy wouldn't want her niece moving in on her man. Atwell also doesn't think Steve is the right guy for Sharon, given that controversial recent development concerning Captain America in the comics:

She'd want the best for her and she'd want her dating a good guy. And now with this whole 'Hail Hydra" business, I don't know if Steve's good enough for her. So on all levels, it's just a big fat no.

It certainly makes sense that Captain America would want to start dating again. His best girl is out of the picture, sadly enough, and he's still a young man with his whole life ahead of him. And yes, Sharon is Cap's love interest in the comics. As played out in the MCU, though, it's a weird and pointless plot development. The films barely even bother to establish Sharon as a character before they're pushing her toward Steve, and VanCamp — lovely actress though she is — has zero chemistry with Chris Evans.

But hey, on the other hand, that smooch does bring poor sad Bucky his first moment of joy since, like, the 1940s. So maybe it's not a total loss?