Hayley Atwell shares her frustrations over Doctor Strange 2 role

Since its release in 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has proven to be one of the most divisive Marvel movies. Some loved how Sam Raimi injected as much horror as possible into a kid-friendly superhero flick, while others didn't vibe with its villainization of fan-favorite Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). 

Now Hayley Atwell, who briefly shows up as shield-wielding Peggy Carter variant Captain Carter, has shared her own frustrations with the film, remembering how fans responded to the character's quick dispatch at the hands of the Scarlet Witch. 

"I'm like, 'That wasn't my choice!'" the Mission: Impossible 7 star joked while appearing on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast. "When she was like, 'I could do this all day' and then... is immediately cut in half by a frisbee. And the audience being like, 'She can't do it all day. Apparently you can't, so, egg on your face.' That doesn't really serve Peggy very well. She had less to do than what she did before, before she had the shield."

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the titular hero winds up travelling to another dimension, and meeting a mysterious group called the Illuminati while trying to stop a grieving Wanda from wreaking havoc with the Darkhold. Led by a version of Patrick Stewart's Professor X, the team consists of Mr. Fantastic (John Krasinski), Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and Black Bolt (Anson Mount).

After failing to convince them that Wanda is the real threat, the Illuminati restrain him before facing the Scarlet Witch herself – a move they almost immediately come to regret as she brutally murders all but Mordo. Talking about filming the action-packed scene, Atwell added: "What was really great was coming in and doing all those stunt things. The quick run, and the sliding on my knees... going over backwards...

"I had come straight off, the first time I was wrapped from Mission 7, because I was wrapped nine times, so I went straight from the set of Mission to the airport, to LA. I put the outfit on, did one quick costume fitting and then went straight in," she continued. "They were like, 'This is the fight', and because I had been maintaining that level of physicality, I was able to say I just wanted to do it all. It was great fun." 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is streaming on Disney Plus now. For more from Atwell, check out our Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One chat.