Hollywood’s elite legal circles have revealed that Hayley Atwell appears poised to rejoin the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a significant capacity, potentially marking a major comeback for the beloved actress who first captured fans’ hearts as the no-nonsense SSR agent in the original Captain America film. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Power Lawyers feature, attorney Julian Zajfen of Ziffren Brittenham has negotiated “Hayley Atwell’s deal to star in Marvel’s Avengers 5 and 6” among his recent accomplishments for high-profile clients. This revelation comes amid growing speculation about which established characters might return for Marvel’s next epic crossover events, with Zajfen’s client list also including industry heavyweights like Dick Wolf, Eddie Murphy, and Darren Star, further cementing the credibility of this casting development.
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The British performer previously portrayed Peggy Carter across multiple Marvel projects, including the Captain America films and her own ABC series. More recently, she transformed into the super-powered Captain Carter variant in the animated Marvel’s What If…? Disney+ series before making a brief live-action appearance as the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
That cameo, however, proved somewhat controversial. Atwell herself expressed dissatisfaction with how quickly her character was dispatched by the Scarlet Witch. During an appearance on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Atwell revealed she “took umbrage” with Captain Carter’s treatment, noting how the hero delivered the iconic line “I could do this all day” only to be immediately “frisbee’d to death with her own shield.”
Atwell disclosed that she challenged the direction of her scene on set.
“I spoke with the director about it… suggesting that the camera and lighting be changed slightly,” she recounted in the interview. When initially rebuffed, Atwell stood firm, eventually responding to the director’s claim of “just bullying her” with the quip, “You can’t bully me. I’ve got a jetpack on!”
The actress credited her experience working with Tom Cruise on the Mission: Impossible franchise for helping her advocate for herself more effectively on production sets.
[RELATED – Hayley Atwell Joins Avengers: Doomsday (But Is She Playing Captain Carter?)]
While Marvel Studios hasn’t officially confirmed which incarnation of Atwell’s character will feature in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and presumably Avengers: Secret Wars, it could be Captain Carter, the original Peggy Carter via multiverse mechanics, or potentially an entirely different variant.
The upcoming Avengers movies look like they’ll be weaving together storylines from across many different dimensions and alternate realities. This super-sized adventure appears to be tapping into the concept of the multiverse that Marvel has been developing throughout its recent films and shows.
The two-part Avengers saga represents Marvel’s next attempt at a large-scale crossover event following Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. With multiversal elements now firmly established in the franchise, the incorporation of characters from different timelines and realities appears to be a central element of Marvel’s storytelling approach.
Marvel Studios has yet to respond to media requests for comment regarding Atwell’s reported involvement in the upcoming productions.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Television
