Sharon Carter (also known as Agent 13) is a fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

. She is usually depicted as a secret agent, an ex-field agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury, and a love interest of Steve Rogers. In the original comic book continuity, Sharon was the younger sister of Peggy Carter, the possible wartime love interest of Captain America. She was later

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

ned as Peggy's grand-niece because of the unaging nature of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

characters. Emily VanCamp portrays the character in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

films '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014) and '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) and returned to play the role in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

series '' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' (2021), depicted as the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are often ...

Power Broker, and voices an alternate version in the animated series '' What If...?'' (2021).

Publication history

Created by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

and Dick Ayers, Carter first appeared in '' Tales of Suspense'' #75 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

March 1966). Carter was apparently killed in ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1 ( cover dated March 1941) from T ...

'' #233. She was revived in issue #444 by writer Mark Waid, who commented, "The reason she works so well with Cap is because she's a complete cynic and he's a complete idealist". Sharon Carter appeared as a supporting character in the 2010-2013 '' Secret Avengers'' series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through issue #21 (March 2012).

Fictional character biography

Sharon was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, the daughter of two wealthy

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

ns, Harrison and Amanda Carter. She grew up with the stories of her aunt ( Margaret "Peggy" Carter) who was a

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

with the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Inspired by her aunt's adventures, Sharon joins the international security agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and is assigned the code name Agent 13. By this time, Steve Rogers, the patriotic hero known as

, had been revived from suspended animation, and during one of Sharon's earliest missions, he comes to her aid when she is under attack by a mercenary known as Batroc the Leaper. The two of them cross paths often, teaming up on missions against A.I.M.,

HYDRA Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

Red Skull The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...

, and many others. Sharon and Rogers eventually fall in love, and she becomes one of the first to know his secret identity. The dangerous nature of Sharon's work strains their relationship, and Rogers wants Sharon to give up her life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. While working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison with the New York Police Department, Sharon investigates and infiltrates a white supremacist terrorist organization known as the National Force. During one of the National Force's battles with street criminals in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, the National Guard is sent in. Under the effects of a mind-altering gas, Sharon apparently activates a self-destruct device in her National Force uniform and dies. Rogers is shown the event on videotape.''Captain America'' #237 (Sept. 1979). Marvel Comics. It is later revealed that Sharon's death was faked so she could go on a top secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. The mission did not go well, and Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Executive Director, believed her to have been killed in action; Captain America was not informed of the true circumstances of her "death".

Return

Sharon is not dead, but has been left behind in enemy territory, a captive of the dictator Tap-Kwai. Escaping, she spends several years working as a mercenary, until she encounters a group of Neo-Nazi extremists known as the Kubecult. Learning that they plan to use the Cosmic Cube to return

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to life, Sharon joins forces with the villainous

to stop them, but they also need Captain America. At this point, Rogers is suffering health problems: the Super-Soldier serum that gave him his abilities is breaking down, and he has fallen into a coma. The Red Skull is currently occupying a cloned body of Rogers himself, and a transfusion of the Skull's blood, which contains an uncontaminated Super-Soldier formula, restores and revives Rogers. Rogers is shocked to find Sharon alive. Over the course of the mission to topple the cult he learns that her years out in the cold have made her grimmer and more ruthless, and the two of them do not renew their relationship when Sharon rejoins S.H.I.E.L.D. A romantic tension still exists: Sharon teases him about his naïveté, such as when he lets a family of squatters stay in his apartment. The two battle the

, who possesses a cosmic cube that can do whatever he wishes. Sharon and Captain America argue about killing the Skull, with Sharon urging Rogers to use an energy-based shield that she has given him. Sharon tries and fails to kill the Red Skull, but he is soon defeated through trickery. The energy shield is lost in the time-stream. Soon afterwards, Sharon assists Captain America in several cases where patriotic Americans go on violent rampages under the influence of a supernatural entity named Nightmare, who has found a way to influence this dimension through the ' American dream.' Sharon and Cap battle many patriotic people, including a temporarily insane U.S. Agent, and ultimately Sharon has to face down a Captain America under the influence of Nightmare.

21st century

In the absence of Nick Fury, Sharon serves a brief term as Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. She returns to field work, reporting directly to the new Executive Director,

Maria Hill Commander Maria Hill ( ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, the character first appeared in '' The New Avengers'' #4 (March 2005). As a forme ...

, as a liaison officer specifically assigned to support and report on Captain America's activities. While investigating the whereabouts of Jack Monroe, she is abducted by the Winter Soldier and used as bait to lure Captain America into a trap set by General Aleksander Lukin. She and Captain America later resume their relationship while on a field mission investigating the activities of the Winter Soldier. During the "

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

" storyline, Sharon is initially a supporter of the

Superhuman Registration Act Discrimination against superheroes is a common theme and plot element comic books and superhero fiction, usually as a way to explore the issue of superheroes operating in society or as commentary on other social concerns. Often in response to th ...

, but she is averse to actually aiding in the capture of her lover, Captain America, who is the leader of the "Secret Avengers" opposed to the Act. At the same time, she is an unknowing pawn of the

and his associate Doctor Faustus. She later comes into contact with Nick Fury's underground organization, even as she is reassigned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. task force charged with locating Fury. She switches her allegiance to Captain America, citing the death of Goliath as the primary reason; it is unclear how much of this is the result of Faustus's influence. In a follow-up, a sniper shoots Steve Rogers in the shoulder while he walks up the steps to the Federal Court. In the ensuing crowd chaos, Rogers is shot three times in the abdomen with a pistol, and later appears to die of his wounds. It is later revealed that the plan was orchestrated by the Red Skull; the sniper was Crossbones, and Sharon Carter shot Rogers in the abdomen while under a hypnotic suggestion by Dr. Faustus. Sharon is still under the influence of Doctor Faustus, who uses her to disable Black Widow and Falcon before she joins the Red Skull's organization as a minion. She is apparently pregnant with Rogers's child, but she loses the baby during a fight with the Red Skull's daughter, Sin, during one of several attempts to escape. Later, Sharon says that she, not Sin, stabbed her womb and caused the miscarriage, to keep the Red Skull from getting his hands on anything of hers. Doctor Faustus makes her forget ever being pregnant, and he also gives her the tools to escape. Sharon frees herself, killing Aleksander Lukin in the process (and narrowly missing killing the Red Skull himself), before being found by

Black Widow Black widow may refer to: Spiders * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'' American species * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South Amer ...

and the Falcon. Iron Man and Falcon decide to tell her about her pregnancy at a later date, after sufficient recovery time. As a result, Sharon decided to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. Sharon Carter is featured in the storyline '' Captain America: Reborn,'' where she learns that she killed Captain America and plans to figure out a way to revive him. Unfortunately, Norman Osborn also plans to revive Captain America, so that he can complete the Red Skull's plan to transfer his consciousness into Steve's body and have him lead the Avengers to increase his popularity. He frames Sharon as an accomplice in Rogers' murder and threatens to kill the second Captain America if she doesn't turn herself in, which she does. She is brought to Latveria, where she is attached to a machine to bring Rogers back, but with the Red Skull controlling his body. Mr. Fantastic determines that Sharon has chronal tracers in her blood meant to pull Steve to her. She surrenders to Norman Osborn in order to save the life of Bucky (who had already escaped, unbeknownst to her), and she is delivered to the Red Skull and Dr. Doom, who use her to retrieve Steve, with the Skull's mind in control. Sharon ultimately escapes with the help of Henry Pym, and uses the Red Skull's own ship to blow him up. Reconciling with Steve (who was able to assert control over his body), they take some time off at her Virginia estate. Sharon was a member of an Avengers team, and the Secret Avengers, in Ed Brubaker's series of the same name. Sharon appeared to sacrifice herself to stop Arnim Zola's massive flying fortress from invading Earth but she is alive in Zola's captivity and she is found by Falcon and Jet Black. When Sharon Carter and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrest Tomoe and her Biohack Ninjas, she meets Riri Williams who helped

Pepper Potts Virginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She serves as a supporting character to Iron Man and sometimes a romantic interest of Tony Stark. Created by writers Stan Lee and ...

defeat them. During the " Secret Empire" storyline, Sharon Carter is on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier at the time when Captain America, whose history was rewritten by Red Skull's clone using the powers of Kobik to make him a Hydra sleeper agent, reveals his association with Hydra as the Hydra Helicarrier rams into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier that Sharon Carter is on as Doctor Faustus arrests her. Sharon Carter pretends to be brainwashed by Doctor Faustus, but incapacitates him by spiking his tea with a non-lethal toxin. Sharon Carter later forms the Daughters of Liberty, who work to clear Captain America's name after he is framed for the death of Thunderbolt Ross.

Powers and abilities

Sharon is a highly trained martial artist and extremely adept at various fighting techniques. She is highly trained in espionage, weapons, firearms and computers. After being brainwashed by Doctor Faustus into shooting Captain America, she spent some time training herself to resist similar brainwashing attempts in future, to the extent that she tricked Faustus into thinking he had brainwashed her again and attacked him while his guard was down.

Other versions

In the alternate future of the '' Earth X'' miniseries, Sharon Carter has fallen victim to Hydra, a squid-based alien life form that absorbs minds and people to expand. Sharon Carter is introduced into the

Marvel Mangaverse The Marvel Mangaverse is a series of comic books published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2002, with a sequel "New Mangaverse" released in 2006. The series depicts an alternate (or possibly two alternates, see below) Marvel universe, where its ch ...

continuity as the supposed orchestrator of the destruction of almost the entire superhuman population in the Marvel Mangaverse. It turns out that she has been under mind control. She becomes the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Nick Fury supposedly dies. The

Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Those characters ...

version of Sharon Carter is also an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but is much closer to the environment of Spider-Man. She often appears as one of a pair of wise-cracking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the other one is Jimmy Woo. She can display humor at times, but mostly keeps her mouth shut in public. As seen in ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' #46, she is a practicing

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and has strong morals, which lead her to want S.H.I.E.L.D. to destroy individuals such as Doctor Octopus rather than 'lock them away for poking'. Carter and Woo survive the Super-Villains escape that occurs in '' Ultimate Six.'' Carter is seen next in the Silver Sable arc and Woo in the

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his '' A Midsummer N ...

arc. Carter is later involved with the Clone Saga arc, telling the people evacuated from Peter Parker's neighborhood that all is well, and Agent Woo is later seen in the Death of a Goblin arc, letting Carol Danvers know about the Goblin's most recent murder. In a 2008 storyline, Carter is the acting head of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She asks the Fantastic Four to investigate a confusing situation at Project Pegasus. Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers have a daughter named Sharon Rogers. Created as part of Captain America's 75th anniversary, she is from an alternate timeline where she now serves as Captain America.

In other media

Television

Sharon Carter appeared in '' The Marvel Super Heroes'', voiced by Peg Dixon.

Film

A variation of the character named Sharon Stewart in ''

'', portrayed by Kim Gillingham. This version is a civilian and the daughter of Bernie Stewart-Cooperman. After the death of her parents at the hands of the

's daughter Valentina de Santis, Stewart accompanies Captain America to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to defeat the villains.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Emily VanCamp portrays Sharon Carter in media set in the

. She appears in the live-action films '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014) and '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) as well as the Disney+ miniseries '' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' (2021). Additionally, VanCamp voices an alternate timeline version in the

animated series '' What If...?'' episode " What If... Zombies?!"

Video games

* The

incarnation of Sharon Carter appears in '' Ultimate Spider-Man'', voiced by

Jane Hajduk Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fo ...

. * Sharon Carter appears in '' Marvel Heroes''. The character as Agent 13 was added later as a "Team-Up" character. * Sharon Carter as Agent 13 appears as a playable character in '' Marvel: Future Fight''. * Sharon Carter appears as a playable character in '' Lego Marvel's Avengers'', voiced by Jennifer Hale. * Sharon Carter as Agent 13 appears as a playable character in '' Marvel Avengers Academy'', voiced by Linnea Sage. * Sharon Carter as Agent 13 appears as a playable character in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2''.

References

External links

Carter, Sharon
Marvel Directory: Sharon Carter (Agent 13) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Sharon Avengers (comics) characters Comics characters introduced in 1966 Marvel Comics television characters Fictional characters from Virginia Fictional Central Intelligence Agency personnel Fictional American secret agents Fictional women soldiers and warriors Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics film characters Marvel Comics female superheroes Fictional special forces personnel Fictional spymasters Characters created by Stan Lee Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Dick Ayers S.H.I.E.L.D. agents