12 Greatest Female Onscreen Spies (5 of 7)

8. Peggy Carter (Agent Carter/Captain America/Marvel’s What If)

After losing Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter throws herself into work as an SSR agent instead of fading away. The men only see a secretary who’s meant to serve them coffee and do the boring paperwork, but in reality, she’s cracking skulls, codes, and glass ceilings. Thanks to Hayley Atwell’s mix of charm and brute force, Peggy feels like the original blueprint for S.H.I.E.L.D. And after pretty much saving not only the world but the whole multiverse, Peggy can finally take her hard-earned rest.

9. Eve Polastri (Killing Eve)

Eve starts as an overqualified paper-pusher at MI5, secretly obsessed with catching female assassins. When she becomes fixated on the stylish, unhinged Villanelle, she finally gets her wish: real spy work, real danger, and a messy, toxic cat-and-mouse game that changed the game for sapphic enjoyers (until they blew it in the final season).