What to Expect From 'Marvel's Agent Carter'
Get the scoop on the new ABC show.
— -- ABC is kicking off its limited-run series "Marvel's Agent Carter" tonight.
Hayley Atwell reprises her role as Peggy Carter -- the love of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers/Captain America -- seen in both "Captain America" movies.
As in the "One Shot" short film "Agent Carter" on which the show is based, Peggy, still working for the S.H.I.E.L.D. forerunner agency, the Strategic Scientific Reserve, sees her role as a wartime super-spy reduced in a male-dominated postwar world.
"She's someone who has a very strong purpose and clear destiny she is trying to fulfill. She knows the bad guys are never going to end," Atwell told The Hollywood Reporter. "There's always going to be something to fight, a cause to believe in. It's about fulfilling the whole person in that role."
Whether it's hiding her job from her roommate, or cracking cases behind the backs of her fellow Strategic Scientific Reserve agents who have her fetching coffee and filling out paperwork, Carter shows sometimes the best man for the job is a woman. And for Atwell, starring in the first female-dominated Marvel property is one of the most exciting parts of the gig.
"It's a real thrill. It's a great time to be able to say to audiences and to Hollywood alike: Women are bankable. They want to be at the forefront. They are watchable, and audiences want them, and Hollywood should want to make female-centered projects," she told the Hollywood Reporter.
"I feel like the last 10 years of TV has created really strong and fascinating women. Women who aren't the damsel in distress or the ingenue or the bitch or the mother-in-law," she added. "They are a lot more interesting and complex. I hope that Peggy is seen in that category of leading a show, but also showing her flaws and showing much more relatable qualities."
Viewers will certainly see her in a variety of situations: The two-episode premiere has Peggy trying to clear the name of her pal, inventor-industrialist Howard Stark -- yes, Iron Man's dad -- who is falsely implicated in trying to sell dangerous technology.