Actress Hayley Atwell embodied the role of agent Peggy Carter to perfection in the MCU. The actress debuted with Captain America: The First Avenger and eventually headed her own series, Agent Carter, with Marvel Television. While her story ended in Avengers: Endgame, she reprised her role in Doctor Strange 2 as an alternative version.
Atwell’s role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was limited but brutal. She is brutally killed by Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch despite being the Captain America of that dimension. Atwell reportedly was frustrated with the cameo as she felt that the death undermined the character, especially after saying a classic Captain America line.
Hayley Atwell’s frustration with her role in Doctor Strange 2 is not unfounded
Imagine bringing an incredible fan service moment to the big screen in one of the most anticipated Marvel offerings of the year and then immediately pulling the rug out with a brutal death. No, we are not talking about Daredevil: Born Again, but the 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Many die in this divisive sequel that was released in a year when a multiversal story like Everything Everywhere All At Once had more madness than the MCU film. The film introduced the Illuminati of a different universe, with Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, John Krasinski’s Reed Richards, and Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, among more.
All of them die brutal deaths as the Scarlet Witch massacres them almost immediately after they are introduced. Atwell was reportedly not too happy with how it played out and felt that her character was undermined in the film. She said to John Smith,
I really sort of took umbrage at the fact that she has that brilliant line, ‘I could do this all day’. Then she’s Frisbee-d to death with her own shield, and I’m like, she’s so undermined…And it just got just pulled out from her.
While it was still just a cameo in an alternate reality (and going against Scarlet Witch in revenge mode is not really a good idea), Atwell’s characterization was still insulting, especially after the hours she had put into embodying the role of Peggy Carter in the MCU.
Hayley Atwell recounted a crew member ‘bullying’ her on the sets of Doctor Strange 2
The MCU is not the only blockbuster franchise that Hayley Atwell has been a part of. She was in the Mission: Impossible franchise as Grace and mentioned that actor Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie fostered a collaborative and learning atmosphere while filming, which she tried to carry over to the sets of Doctor Strange.
However, that did not go exactly as planned. Atwell described an instance where she suggested a blocking scene to one of the crew members who was in a ‘high position’ (which she sort of later let slip was the director, i.e., Sam Raimi); his response was a bit rude. She said,
On this particular instance…he went, ‘Oh, sure, Hayley, I’ll just tell our Oscar-winning editor that you have some choices you’d like to make. And, yeah, don’t you worry about that. I’ll make sure he gets a memo’…And the director kind of went, ‘Oh, I’m just kidding. I’m just bullying you. Don’t worry.’
Atwell mentioned that she stood up for herself while the crew member passed it off as she was kidding around. She ultimately pushed to have her idea taken seriously.
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