The first teaser for Marvel’s Agent Carter was kind of embarrassing (“Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman,” seriously?), but things are looking up.
Two new trailers give us a better look at the show’s atmosphere as a post-war espionage caper, a real departure from most other Marvel efforts. We also meet the first major character who isn’t already part of the Marvel universe, Angie Martinelli. She’s an automat waitress who befriends Peggy without knowing about her secret double life as an S.S.R. agent, and it looks like she may be Peggy’s roommate as well.
Agent Carter‘s eight-episode series will tell part of the origin story of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, airing during the mid-season hiatus of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. A recent preview clip gave us some insight into the roles played by Howard Stark and his butler Jarvis, but other links to Marvel comics will probably be a lot more subtle. Peggy Carter’s canonical backstory is something of a mess after being subjected to decades of continuity rewrites, and Marvel has already rebooted the character quite significantly for the movie universe.
If these trailers are an accurate example of the finished product, Agent Carter is going to be everything we hoped it would be. Lots of gleefully cliched spy escapades, beautiful 1940s costumes, and scenes where Hayley Atwell punches people in the face. (Also, Ray Wise as one of the many sexist jerks Carter has to deal with at work, which means yet another Twin Peaks/Marvel crossover after Kyle McLachlan’s regular guest appearances in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Network TV is already full of action/adventure shows and sci-fi spinoffs and historical dramas, but not usually in the same place, and rarely with a woman in the lead role. In other words, Agent Carter is definitely going to stand out from the crowd, which is more than you could say of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during its earlier episodes.
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