Warning! Spoilers ahead for Captain America #23
It's confirmed. Sharon Carter, the former Agent 13, is now the new Iron Patriot. In a surprise move from the latest series of Captain America, Sharon arrives to give Captain Steve Rogers a hand, donning the iconic red, white, and blue armor and dominates Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America #23, totally stealing the show.
While War Machine became the Iron Patriot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was actually the second hero to wear the armor. Norman Osborn was actually the first, wearing it when he led his own team of Dark Avengers in a bid to foster positive public opinion towards his new direction during Dark Reign. Then, James Rhodes wore the suit for a time during the Marvel Now! publication initiative while Iron Man was off-world with the Guardians of the Galaxy. After that, the armor went to Toni Ho, who wore the suit as a part of the U.S Avengers.
Now, the suit has gone to Sharon Carter in Captain America #23 from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates with art by Robert Quinn. It's gotten some pretty cool upgrades too, courtesy of Toni Ho herself. Despite Sharon's older age (her youth was stolen from her by Arnim Zola in Dimension Z), Sharon arrives with the Daughters of Liberty just in the nick of time to save the day alongside Captain America, who's fighting Selene, one of the evil Power Elite. Selene had stolen a part of Sharon's soul, which meant that Sharon was pretty determined to get it back and had a bone to pick.
After the dust settles, the new Iron Patriot managed to wear Selene and her soul-sucking powers down, defeating her. However, Shuri surprisingly steps in to take Selene's power and turn it into a force for good, transforming Sharon and giving her her youth back. Remarkably, Sharon Carter is back to her normal age that she was before Dimension Z and is back in action, much to the shock of Captain America.
It will be interesting to see if Sharon keeps the Iron Patriot armor or not. It seems likely that this could have just been a one-time thing, and that the armor will go back to Toni Ho. Some thought that Peggy Carter (the recently revealed leader of the Daughters of Liberty who was thought by Cap to be dead) would have been the one to wear the armor, but to have Sharon putting it on ended up providing some really engaging story elements. Coates puts the spotlight directly on Sharon in this issue, showing her struggles with always feeling like she's the one being saved all the time, and the pros and cons of having rapidly aged, refusing to see it as a weakness. Putting on the Iron Patriot armor allows her to save the day, regardless of her body's limitations. Not only that, but she was rewarded by getting several years back. Who knows how Sharon's story will continue in the pages of Captain America, but it seems clear that it's just getting started.