Agent Carter Becomes Marvel Comic’s First Female Fronted Superhero Series
Tonight, TV-land gains a new superhero. ABC’s Agent Carter – set in the Marvel Universe – stars Hayley Atwell (reprising her Captain America role) as Peggy Carter and takes place in post World War II America.
Against the 1940s backdrop, Peggy – and the other women riveters and welders of WWII – find themselves moved to the background as the men return to their homes and jobs. As a single, working woman, [her beau, Captain America, was frozen in the Artic in the first film and woke up in modern times] Peggy is forced to battle against the dated mindset that women should be seen and not heard. During the war, Peggy worked as a codebreaker, and was part of the team that created Captain America.
The show opens on Peggy, working as an administrative assistant at Strategic Scientific Reserve. Her struggle mimics the real life women of the forties, who were suddenly dropped back into the role of secretaries, despite their many qualifications. However, she’s soon called back into the secret agent as she finds herself working with scientist, Howard Stark. Unlike the men at SSR, Stark – also known as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man’s father – does not underestimate Peggy, and gets her back into the field.
Though Peggy will be a superhero sans otherworldly powers, she is not without super skills. Namely, her power comes from her ability to manipulate those who discredit her – not unlike TV’s more modern heroines. It’s Peggy’s intelligence, and sharp tongue that places her amongst Marvel’s other action heroes.
But the super-powered women won’t only be onscreen in this series. Power-duo Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas continue their long-term partnership on both production and writing teams for Agent Carter. Butters and Fazekas were just assistants when they met on the set of X-Files. The two soon joined forces as writers and producers for Law and Order SVU. Since then, they’ve worked on several shows, including Dollhouse, Hawaii Five-0, and ABC’s other new series, Resurrection.
As the showrunners for Agent Carter, Butters and Fazekas are no strangers to fronting television series. In 2007, the pair created the supernatural dramadey, Reaper. Though it only lasted for two seasons, the CW series was well loved by critics and viewers alike.
Following in the footsteps of nineties super-heroines, Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Max Guevera (Dark Angel), Peggy Carter is sure to add some new life and new skills to television’s leading ladies lineup. Agent Carter will also be Marvel Comics’s very first female fronted superhero, but, don’t expect her to be the last. In November, Marvel announced the lineup for their completed Cinematic Universe. Among the titles was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of one Carol Danvers who will be introduced to the film series in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1. Captain Marvel will be released in theaters in July 2018, just two months after Infinity War premiers.
Agent Carter premiers tonight on ABC. The two-hour debut will be the first of the eight episode season.
Photos courtesy of ABC Media
TAGS: Women in entertainment women in television Women Superheros