Hayley Atwell Shares Frustrations Over Doctor Strange 2 Role

After a cameo appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Hayley Atwell expressed frustration with Peggy not getting a bigger role in the MCU.

Atwell’s Peggy Carter has been a staple of the MCU, mainly serving as Captain America’s long-lost love interest.

Since 2011, Atwell has acted as various iterations of Peggy, from on her deathbed in Captain America: The Winter Solider to starring in an Agent Carter ABC series.

Recently, Atwell has been back in Avengers: Endgame (briefly), Doctor Strange 2, and What If…?.

Hayley Atwell Disappointed With Captain Carter in Doctor Strange 2

While speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hayley Atwell said Captain Carter’s quick cameo was a “frustrating moment in [Doctor Strange 2].”

Host Josh Horowitz joked “that was quick” when discussing the Earth-838 scene with Atwell when her character was swiftly killed with her own shield by Scarlet Witch.

Atwell explained how fans joked about her “I can do this all day” line followed by Carter being “immediately cut in half by a frisbee:”

“…She’s like, ‘I could do this all day,’ and then followed by she’s immediately cut in half by a frisbee, and then the audience being like, ‘She can’t do it all day… Apparently, you can’t, so… Yeah, egg on your face.’ And, I’m like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t really serve Peggy very well.”

Prior to this anecdote, Atwell explained how much she enjoyed a prominent role in Disney+’s What If…? series. 

The actress said it “is great fun” to record your lines in a booth while in “your pajamas:”

“I felt like I had much more to do in the ‘What If…?’ animation series, which was… I mean, any actor will tell you, to be able to go into a booth, and effectively your pajamas, and do an animation is great fun, because you’re just focused on the voices, the instrument. That is your main sort of performative tool. 

She added that she loves how in What If…?, “they’ve been able to give her just more to do” as “Captain Britain:”

“And I love that in that, they’ve been able to give her just more to do as Captain Carter. Captain Britain.”

Atwell further revealed that when she finished filming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, she “went straight from the set” to LA to film the scene in Doctor Strange 2:

“But what was really great was the coming in, and doing even those stunt things, when she does that kind of very quick run, but then sliding on my knees, and like going over backwards and I had come straight off the first time I was wrapped for Mission [Impossible] 7, because I was wrapped nine times… And so I went straight from the set of Mission to the airport to LA, then put the outfit on, did one costume fitting, and then straight in. 

After a high-intensity film like Mission Impossible 7, Atwell wanted to continue to “do it all:”

And they were like, ‘Okay, this is the fight,’ and because I had been so like maintaining that level of physicality, I was able to just go like, ‘I want to do it all. Let me have a go at this.’ And sliding on my knees was just great fun.”

Captain Carter’s Future in the MCU

Hayley Atwell’s new comments on Captain Carter’s appearance in Multiverse of Madness align with what she has said previously. 

She’d said before that the scene wasn’t “the trajectory that I see for Peggy” and that she would “definitely like her to have more to do.”

However, just like What If…? explains, there is an infinite Multiverse full of Variant versions of these characters that take on a different set of challenges and battles.

Another iteration of the character, maybe in live-action or animated, is possible, and Atwell is all for reprising her role.

The actress previously said that she “would love to (return) if Marvel did find a home for her.” More specifically, Atwell wants to be Carter again as long as it’s a home “that feels worthy of her:”

“Well…I haven’t got news for you. But I share your enthusiasm. And I would love to if Marvel did find a home for her; that’s a home that feels worthy of her in terms of her evolution as a character and development as a character:

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is streaming now on Disney+.