Sharon Carter made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it wasn’t until The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that the writers finally embraced how powerful she really is. The MCU’s first three phases, collectively known as the Infinity Saga, introduced the heroes that would lead this connected universe as well as those that would help them in their path. With the Infinity Saga now over as well as the arcs of most of those heroes, Phase 4 is seeing others taking the lead role and bringing characters back to help them, as is happening in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Set six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follows Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as he decides whether or not to take the mantle of Captain America as Steve Rogers wanted, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who is still struggling with the demons of his dark past as the Winter Soldier. Sam and Bucky are joining forces to bring down a group named Flag-Smashers, and for that, they ask Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) for help as he happens to have the information they really need. In episode 3, Zemo took them to Madripoor, where they reunited with Sharon Carter (Emily van Camp), who had been absent from the MUC since Captain America: Civil War.
After the events of Civil War and helping Captain America and his team, Sharon Carter was labeled as an enemy of the state, prompting her to run away and hide. Sharon arrived at Madripoor, where she has been making a living out of dealing art in the black market, and this experience has definitely changed her views on the world, superheroes, what’s right and wrong. Prior to moving to Madripoor, Sharon was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and as such went through extensive training, but she didn’t really get to display any of her abilities in her previous appearances – luckily, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is already changing this.
Thanks to the aforementioned S.H.I.E.L.D. training, Sharon Carter is an expert spy, skilled enough to spend a lot of time undercover without even the most talented Avengers (as is Black Widow) knowing about her real identity, and she's an expert marksman and martial artist as well. Following the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., her experience and expertise allowed her to join the CIA and was discreet enough to steal Captain America and Falcon’s gear without being caught. Although she showed some of these talents in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, it wasn’t until The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that the audience could see what she’s truly capable of. Sharon had been hiding for years and followed Sam, Bucky, and Zemo in Madripoor without them even suspecting it, helping them by killing Selby and their people so they would be safe. She later got rid of a bunch of bounty hunters who went after them, which showed her expertise in combat, weapons, and more.
Surely, Sharon Carter doesn’t have superpowers, so she falls into the same category as Black Widow and Hawkeye, and her training puts her on a par with them – it’s only a matter of Marvel writers giving her enough time to display her abilities and make her an active part of the story rather than a strange and unnecessary love interest, as happened in Civil War. Sharon Carter’s run in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is only getting started, and hopefully, the series will continue to show how truly powerful she is.