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I admit that I’m probably one of the people talking about the length of time both the relationships in EG and WW84, but that really doesn’t give a proper view into how those relationships differ fundamentally.
I’ve probably gone on (too much perhaps) about how CATFA takes place between June 1943 to Feb 1945 and how there are only 3 significant points in time where Steve and Peggy interact. The entire movie reduces the rest of those 18 months to a montage to revolve around them.
As @ZeeLynd has said this creates a temporal illusion of the importance of this relationship despite the fact that Steve spent 5 months on tour with a whole crew of people and 15 months with the Howling Commandos. This movie set in WWII reduces WWII into a montage.
Because CATFA revolves around the relationship at the cost of highlighting Steve’s time fighting as a supersoldier (the entire point of his transformation and his comic book origin) we don’t notice that the actual plot of the movie exists outside of the relationship.
This is where the relationship between Steve Trevor and Diana differs. Steve literally crashes into Diana’s perfect world and reveals the truth about the suffering that lays outside of it. It’s her call to action.
Steve is her guide through the world that is suffering. Through him, she meets a group of other men who teach her of their own trials and hardships.
Eventually, Steve’s sacrifice allows her to save an imperfect world and inspires her to keep fighting in it. They may not have known each other for long, but he has left an indelible mark on her life. She can quite literally no longer go back to her perfect life of ignorance.
It’s not necessary that the love interest in a story have a significant impact on the plot, but it is important to understand that they do affect the main character in some way.
It isn’t possible to compare these two relationships because Peggy does not leave that indelible mark. A promise of a date is not the same as changing someone’s entire world view and calling them to action.
The true significant relationship to Steve Rogers during those 18 months are reduced. His call to action is due to someone he had a significant relationship (romantic or platonic) being in danger.
The ending battle sequence exists as an act of vengeance for that same character who has died helping Steve in his call to action.
And I suppose I wouldn’t be me without ending this by pointing out that the next time Steve encounters Peggy it is revealed that she has spent her entire life working with the people Steve died fighting against.
