Warning: MAJOR, major spoilers are ahead for the end of Avengers: Endgame. Seriously huge spoilers.
Going into Avengers: Endgame, most fans knew we’d be losing two of the original Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man (Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr.). And by the end of Endgame, we did indeed lose both of the superheroes, but luckily, we didn't have to watch Captain America didn't die (Iron Man and Black Widow were painful enough). He goes back to his own time thanks to some handy (if confusing) time travel and lives to be an old man by the time present day rolls around. And while Captain America won't say who his wife is when Sam (Anthony Mackie) catches a glimpse of his ring at the end of the film, the final scene of the movie reveals Steve marries Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). And if you don't recognize that name, we've got you.
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Where You Know Peggy From
If you haven’t seen any other MCU film with Captain America in it, you may not have recognized the woman who stopped Cap in his tracks during his visit to the 1970s military base. That’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Peggy Carter, the love of Cap’s life (she's also a world class spy whose adventures in ABC's cancelled series Agent Carter stand on their own, thankyouverymuch). She debuted in Captain America: The First Avenger, which is when she and Cap fell in love, only they never got to act on it because he sacrificed his life to save the world. He exchanged romantic, tearful goodbyes and a promise of a rain check for a dance with Peggy over an airplane radio before crashing and being frozen in ice for 70 years.
Why Peggy Has Always Been Cap's OTP
Cap was revived in 2012's The Avengers, seven decades removed from his life, his friends and his love. Every single movie that Cap has been in since his first has focused on just how much of a fish out of water he was. He was lonely and no matter the friendships he made with his fellow Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, he never felt fulfilled. (He also briefly kissed Peggy's granddaughter, Sharon, which just made things weird.)
That’s why it meant so much that not only was he able to go back to his own time, he was able to reunite with Peggy, have their long-promised dance and, assuming they never broke up, got married. Since Cap didn’t tell Sam who his wife was, we technically don’t know for sure. But the final scene of Endgame shows Cap and Peggy dancing to a slow song in a home that felt like their own, so it pretty much confirms that she’s his mystery wife.
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Despite The Fairytale Ending, Let's Not Forget, Peggy Is A Badass
Cap and Peggy are perfect together because she’s just as honest and good as he is, if not more. She’s one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best and brightest agents and she spent two full seasons of Marvel’s Agent Carter TV series kicking ass, taking names, and saving the world, all without any special abilities except for her mind and heart. She kept a young Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) on his toes and helped a young Jarvis (James D’Arcy) realize his full potential beyond just being Tony Stark's dad's butler. She helped make S.H.I.E.L.D. the powerful organization it became post-WWII (before Hydra corrupted it, of course). She broke the glass ceiling, fought misogyny, and pushed for a more feminist world all back in the freaking ‘40s.
It’s almost too good to be true that she also got her romantic happy ending with Cap, a happy ending they both deserved. Thank you, Marvel, for finally giving it to them.