Why We Need More Agent Carter

In our hiatus from episodes from Marvel: Agents of Shield, ABC and Marvel have treated us to a wonderful short series: Agent Carter. The teammate and love interest of Steve Rogers, Captain America, must find a way to move on with him lost and presumed dead in post WWII America.

This story captured the struggles of Peggy Carter as the lone woman in an office of Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) in New York City. Literally treated as a secretary, Peggy (played by Hayley Atwell) must find a way to clear Howard Stark's name after he is branded a traitor to the US for allegedly selling his inventions to the county's enemies. In truth, they were stolen from his private vault.

Peggy teams up with Edwin Jarvis, Stark's butler and the human model for Tony's Stark's Jarvis AI, to exonerate Howard and find those responsible.  All the while keeping her activities concealed from her boss and teammates in the SSR.

This series really shows us the depth of character in Peggy Carter. Tragedy strikes her repeatedly in this series as those close to Peggy get in the cross hairs of her adversaries. Not to mention, Mr. Stark hasn't exactly been truthful about all of his stolen technology.

This series continued to build until the final episode of the short season. Audiences were treated to a overview of what will become SHIELD, what kind of person Peggy and Howard Stark are, and new enemies after the defeat of Hydra. I was also happy to see Peggy reunite with members of the Howling Commandos, an episode that proved to many in the SSR that Peggy Carter has the skills and moxy to be an SSR agent.

There is so much of the early story of SHIELD to tell and Peggy Carter's role in it.  We've only scratched the surface of the Black Widow project run by the Russians that will eventually produce Natasha Rominov (The Black Widow from Avengers played by Scarlett Johannson) and its foster organization, Leviathan.

Hayley Atwell's performance as Peggy Carter was fantastic and not bringing this series back to complete more of the story would be a shame.  Marvel has given us the taste of another era for heroes. They've also shown us that evil will find a way to survive and is patiently looking for the opportunity to rise again.