I do love Sharon, and I'm actually really disappointed that they included her in the movies just to give the short end of the stick (especially when they absolutely nailed the casting — Emily VanCamp was a perfect choice for Sharon in so many ways, IMO.) Like capandkirby said, she suffered like the rest of Cap's supporting cast the second that Civil War was chosen as the third Cap movie (or at least, the second when RDJ demanded a bigger role for Tony Stark in the plot as a condition of his signing). Bucky post-Winter Soldier barely got his personality or motivation fleshed out beyond "listless brainwashing victim", Sam was so wasted that a lot of the people watching Infinity War barely remembered him there, and poor Sharon's role felt like an afterthought.

Quote Originally Posted by Tiamatty View Post
Yeah, and what's worse, Sharon herself rarely gets to actually feel about anything that happens to her. She always has to be emotionally strong, never allowed to be vulnerable. Just the standard Strong Female Character. Coates had her show more vulnerability in one scene in the first issue of his Captain America run than any other writer has let her show in decades. She deserves a chance to just, like, cry.
I would kind of disagree. Though she did come off as really cold and jaded, I feel like her return in Operation: Rebirth was notable for framing her experience in terms of her perspective, her frustration, and her real trauma, instead of being framed as Steve getting his *OneTrueLove* back as some kind of prize. It wasn't vulnerable exactly, but it was a convincing show of her POV and her real feelings at the time. I would actually say that Waid does a good job with Sharon's voice in general.

As for being given the space to feel vulnerable, I think that Brubaker post-Civil War through Reborn did give Sharon a couple of moments where she was wallowing in her feelings (or maybe he just alluded to it?). Though obviously Brubaker's handling of Sharon has its ups and downs ...

It is crazy that it took until Coates for Sharon to be given a convincing reaction to everything that's even happened since Remender's run, though. What's the deal with that? I really hope he does her justice.