The next Marvel television series is only a week away, as Agent Carter fills in the gap for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The show hits ABC on Tuesday, January 6th, in a two hour series premiere.
In the first episode, SSR Agent Carter, played by Atwell, catches a live radio play called "The Captain America Adventure Program." She is unimpressed by the very patriotic radio play because she knew the real Captain America and truly misses him, as she fought alongside him and the Howling Commandos during the war. Now that everyone is back from the war, he real battle is with those who "marinalize her potential and contributions at the SSR."
In a recent interview with TVLine, actress Haylee Atwell discussed the upcoming television show and had this to say about her character: "she doesn’t sacrifice her integrity, her morals or her femininity when she’s up against tremendous personal and external obstacles. She is a fighter and a survivor, but she doesn’t have any superpowers... She has to rely on her wits and intelligence and determination to navigate what comes her way."
While Carter thinks she found the love of her life with Steve Rogers, a man who sacrificed himself for the greater good, his death will affect her in the upcoming show: "You’re seeing someone who has her own demons and her own character flaws, and she’s having to struggle with that while keeping up this facade of a put-together, perfect agent who can cope with everything. But there’s a cost to that... Everyone on the planet is only strong until a certain point, everyone has a trigger, and this season really shows that. [In Peggy] we don’t have someone who is superhuman in her abilities. We see her cry, we see her private moments, we see her loneliness. We see the emotional and psychological costs of the position that she’s in and the loss that she’s had of Steve.”
Atwell goes on to say that this is not a "case of the week" type of show and it won't be as "happy-go-lucky" as some of the shows and films in the Marvel cinematic universe. "It’s not like, ‘Let’s find this ‘bad baby,’ now let’s find that ‘bad baby... It goes to a much deeper, darker place... I was absolutely shocked and delighted when I started to read the later episodes and see the direction we’re going in... That’s one of the advantages of having only eight episodes, is that it’s not diluted over 22. This has a very strong story and is essentially four films.”
Agent Carter debuts Tuesday, January 6th on ABC at 8/7C in a two-hour premiere, then moves into its regular slot, Tuesdays at 9/8C on January 13th.