With any Marvel Cinematic Universe project, there’s always the question of whether an end credits scene will link the project to future movies and/or TV shows. And with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, one major question going into the finale was this: Who is the Power Broker? Well, the show decided to combine both the end-credits scene and the identity of the Power Broker — the facilitator of the super serum used to power-up the Flag Smashers — who was revealed to be Sharon Carter. Given her mysterious phone call (to Batroc) in the penultimate episode, Sharon’s newly nefarious ways do not arrive as a complete surprise, but the manner in which the announcement was made was something. No longer does Sharon even vaguely resemble the friendly “nurse next door” to Steve Roger’s apartment or even Agent 13 or Peggy Carter’s great-niece.
As viewers now realize, Sharon believed that she got the shaft from Steve Rogers and the U.S. government. I’m not talking about anything related the fan backlash to Steve and Sharon’s kiss, either. Nope, this was actually some rude (and apparently clueless) stuff on Steve’s behalf. Oversights are bound to happen when you’re trying to save the world from cosmic threats and a genocidal maniac, but seriously, Steve found the energy to travel back in time to spend decades with his true love, and he couldn’t help clear Sharon’s name first? She put her butt on the line to bring Steve and Sam their gear during Captain America: Civil War, and this earned her fugitive status. MCU lore held that she got snapped by Thanos and resurrected, but she actually seems to have fled (years ago) to Madripoor, where she became Queen of the Sketchy Art Dealers.
She did, however, truly take things too far. During this series, Sharon didn’t hide her disillusion from Sam: “Look, you know the whole hero thing is a joke, right?” She was brutal to Bucky: “You buy into all that stars and stripe bullsh*t. Before you were his pet psychopath, you were Mr. America. Cap’s best friend.” Yet Sharon put on a sugary face in the show’s end credits scene. She graciously accepted a full pardon and declared herself honored to go back to her work for the government (as Agent 13?). Then she stepped outside and made a phone call:
Confirmed: Sharon Carter’s gonna start dealing weapon prototypes and government secrets because super soldiers are no longer in demand. Damn! As unlikely as this outcome seemed back when Sharon Carter was simply kicking ass in the show’s trailer, it appears that Power Broker could be a Season 2 villain. Looking back at the conversation that she had with Karli Morgenthau in the finale, it’s clear that she’s got a mega-beef with the powers that be, and Karli was at odds with her ending objective, which now seems to be world domination. As Karli put it, “You wanted to control a world that hurt you.. I wanted to change it… I’m not interested in power or an empire.”
What’s kinda crazy is this: If Sharon had the super serum and wanted to rule the world, why did she not take the serum as well? Instead, she apparently meant to use the Flag Smashers as her goons, and when Karli refused to play along, that meant the end of Karli. Likewise, Batroc made the mistake of threatening to expose Sharon’s Power Broker identity, and Sharon had no problem killing him, either. At this point, we can only assume that she’s off-the-hook but very good at maintaining the illusion of composure, given that she was very cool with the Senator declaring that Sharon’s surname “has always been synonymous with service and trust” and running with it after the hearing.
An important point: This series’ version of the Power Broker is nothing like the Marvel Comics character of the same name, so comics will be of no use to predict where Sharon might go from here. What’s very obvious is that Sharon’s now ascending to greater heights, and her intentions are not good. She’s entirely disillusioned with the idea of heroics, and she has an accomplice waiting in the wings to help her sell off every other dangerous thing she can access. “Should be something for everyone,” she added, which could mean… other countries, other planets? Yikes.
The situation could go a few ways. It could take Power Broker into another MCU show or movie, or this could line up a Season 2, should the Marvel Studios gods choose to go there. Kevin Feige has left the door ajar for more, and if that happens, the new Captain America, Sam Wilson, and his sidekick, Bucky Barnes will have a Power Brokered mess to fix. Also, the betrayal factor! Let’s hope we see that drama unfold onscreen.
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ season finale is streamable on Disney+.