Who’s Ready for Agent Carter?!

Last year, the success of Agent Carter was a very pleasant surprise for me. Prior to airing, it fell solidly into the category which Lucifer currently finds itself in. I desperately wanted it to be good, but was petrified of how it was going to turn out in what has been an increasingly weak line-up on the once strong networks.

Peggy Carter’s awesomeness struck me on a number of levels when I saw Captain America: The First Avenger. (I have always wanted to kick butt and take names in amazing World War II era fashion). It seems incredibly easy for the female lead in a superhero movie to take a back seat to the titular hero. In the case of this particular franchise, it would be easy to create a flat, generic love interest, as Captain America has 70+ years of available character history to fill a script. Thankfully, script writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely didn’t just do the easy thing and write a blank archetype to swoon over Steve Rogers.

From her first scenes in the first Captain America film, Peggy stands out as an interesting and well-rounded character in her own right. While there are a number of instances of women involved in the various resistance movements in World War II, the stories of these women been largely ignored by popular culture, placing women into one of two archetypes, the housewife and Rosie the Riveter.

It is a tremendously important point that Peggy remains her own woman, even during the peak of her relationship with Steve. It is actually Peggy that introduces Steve to her world. We are shown throughout the two films that Peggy shared just as much (if not more) of a bond with Steve Rogers then she did with Captain America.

The first season of Agent Carter followed Peggy in the direct aftermath of World War II. Peggy is working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve,  through despite her impressive war record, she is treated more like a secretary.  The series, though more pulp serial than superhero series, has served as a well crafted origin story to what is currently happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the first season solidly under their belt, things should only get better with season two.

Be sure to turn in for the season premiere of Agent Carter on your local ABC affiliate on January 19th.