Hayley Atwell Could Appear in Captain America 2, Not The Avengers
Posted 01.06.12 by Ryan
One of the difficulties Joss Whedon likely had to deal with in writing and directing the upcoming adaptation of The Avengers was balancing the many characters. Besides the Avengers team — which includes Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) — there's also the members of S.H.I.E.L.D. — which includes Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). There's also Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the villain of the movie, as well.
While the many characters are probably a concern even for fans, Hiddleston recently praised Whedon's "pan-literacy about the genre" as well as his "dexterity in negotiating all the different story lines, all the different characters, all the different tones," so it would appear that Whedon handled the ensemble pretty well. There is one character that Whedon probably won't have to worry about: Peggy Carter.
The Avengers will be Captain America's first adventure in the present, after being thawed at the end of last summer's Captain America: The First Avenger. With the 1940s long behind him, that also means that the other characters Cap knew, including his love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), will be left in the past — at least for now. Atwell recently told The Coventry Telegraph that she isn't likely to appear in The Avengers.
Unfortunately not. I think I can say that quite safely now. I imagine filming has wrapped on that, so I haven't been part of that project at all.
There are fans of the comic and of Peggy and Steve's relationship that would probably want to see more of that, but for me as an actor it frees me up from a franchise. It frees me up creatively from being too established as one particular role, which gives me more creative freedom. At the moment I'm looking at it in that positive light, because I have to. I've got no choice.
Of course, Carter's absence in The Avengers doesn't totally "free" Atwell from a franchise. It's possible that Carter could return in Captain America 2, a move that Atwell would welcome.
I haven't heard anything; I haven't been approached. Of course if they were to bring me back or ask if I was interested, I'd definitely love to go back and revisit that role and develop her. That would be wonderful.
How Carter would be brought into the present from the '40s could be the challenge. In the comic books, Cap ends up dating Sharon Carter, Peggy's niece, in the present day. The First Avenger screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, who have been hired to write the sequel, admitted last August that they would like to include Sharon in the sequel, even if it seems a bit incestuous. "You have to walk a fine line there because it does seem like you're dating your girlfriend's daughter," said Markus. Assuming Atwell will end up playing Sharon as well, Markus has a point.
Whether Atwell is aware of the Sharon Carter character is unknown, but the British actress did admit that she wasn't aware of Captain America when she auditioned.
I'd no idea who Captain America was, so I came to it completely fresh. I made no secret of that to the director in the audition. I don't think it got in the way.
Considering the success of The First Avenger, we'd have to agree with Atwell. Still, Marvel has yet to formally announce a release date for Captain America 2, though the studio already has two "mystery movies" scheduled for 2014, one of which could easily end up being Cap 2. Should The Avengers find box office success on May 4th, expect Marvel to firm up those 2014 dates.