By Pat French
Slight spoilery ahead: Nothing too harsh (I’m certainly not going to give away the BIG reveal), but I am going to discuss things that could be considered “surprising.” If you haven’t seen the movie yet and fears the spoilage: Go. Go now. See it twice even.
So in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there’s a scene where Cap is walking through an exhibit about himself in the Smithsonian. He comes to a theater area and Hayley Atwell, reprising her role as Peggy Carter, treats us with an appearance. This comes in the form of an interview set during the 1960’s or so. Amidst talking about Cap, she recalls his rescue of Bucky Barnes and the other Howling Commandos from the Red Skull and mentions that one of the men he saved became her husband. There’s a pain in her voice as she says this, presumably because she’s remembering Cap (who at the time of this interview would have been considered dead for more than a decade). It didn’t occur to me until a day or two later that it might have been more than that. Indeed, her marriage may have a large role to play in the quickly expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ya’see, back in the 70’s Captain America was written by a (to use the nomenclature of the era) “pretty far out dude” named Steve Englehart. One of the highlights of his run is the Secret Empire storyline, echoes of which run amok in this film. During this arc, Cap ends his romance with Peggy Carter in favor of her younger sister Sharon. Out of context this sounds like a real dick move -and it is- but in Cap’s defense, Peggy was twice his age at that point. I guess that doesn’t really make it better… Soap Opera aside, Peggy moves on and decides to join SHIELD where she finds a new man in Marvel’s classic racy style.
See what I did there?
That’s right, Peggy Carter winds up with none other than Gabe Jones, former Howling Commando and high-ranking Agent of SHIELD. Oh and did I mention that he’s African-American? This might not seem like such a big deal to you younger readers with your pokey-mons and your twitters, but even in the 70’s Racism was still very prevalent. Civil Rights had just recently gained a foothold and “Black is Beautiful” had caught on, but a biracial couple was a many steps beyond what most Americans were comfortable with. And they were seeing this in a superhero comic where the protagonist wears the American flag.
This is one of the many examples of how progressive and groundbreaking Marvel Comics has historically been. In this same era Spiderman helped a friend through a pill addiction, and the X-Men fought bigotry at its most primal level. Marvel Studios meanwhile, has shown that it intends to honor the spirit of these old comics in as many ways as it can. Also they have a habit of contracting their actors for multiple films, even in smaller parts. And there has been MUCH buzz about a 1950’s period-set Peggy Carter TV show.
If this show goes forward (and things are looking good on that front, Dominic Cooper has already said he would reprise Howard Stark), I expect we’ll see this romance unfold. And what a great era to see it unfold in! It was daring and out there in the 70’s, but a biracial couple in the 50’s was straight-up dangerous. This was the era where lynching was practically acceptable in many states. This was the era of segregation and Jim Crow. Even a war hero and government agent would have a hard time going to the bathroom if his skin was the wrong color. Peggy’s voice cracked and she winced when she mentioned her husband. Is it Cap’s fate she is lamenting, or her husband’s?
Shows like Mad Men have shown us that exposing the raw bigotry and sexism of the mid 20th century can be both an entertaining and a successful notion. Additionally, X-Men: First Class proves that era-specific superhero tales can not only work, but be farking awesome. Besides all that though, we desperately need more powerful women on TV. Peggy Carter is one of the most capable action-movie romantic leads I have seen in a long time. Her One-Shot on the Iron Man 3 DVD kicked more ass than the whole first season of Agents of SHIELD. Gabe Jones was portrayed by Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher himself!) in The First Avenger, so I’m sure Marvel locked him in for possible future appearances. Marvel has long and storied history of questioning our basic moral flaws, and I truly hope that my predictions in this article are somewhere near the mark for their future television plans.