The MCU’s Most Frustrating Cancellation Still Stings 10 Years Later

Since the launch of Disney+, Marvel has completely reshaped its presence on television. What started with early hits like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye has since expanded into a much larger slate that includes Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Agatha All Along, Wonder Man, and, currently streaming new episodes of its sophomore season, Daredevil: Born Again. These series have not only deepened the MCU’s bench of characters but also made Marvel television feel far more essential to the larger universe than it did in its early days.

That shift makes it even easier to forget that, not too long ago, Marvel’s TV efforts existed on the fringes, with only loose or inconsistent connections to the films. Agent Carter, starring Hayley Atwell, is one such series that got lost in the shuffle of the MCU’s early TV phase. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely — longtime MCU writers credited for writing the first two Captain America films — created the series. But sadly, the show got swept under the rug, only lasting two seasons because of low viewership, and ending on a massive, unresolved cliffhanger.

Yes, an alternate version of Agent Carter gets another chance in the MCU series What If…?, but that does not absolve the cancellation of this show. For what it’s worth, the show deserved a chance to finish its ending, not only for the great lead performances but also for the over-the-top entertaining espionage mixed with sci-fi pleasures, representing a unique period in Marvel lore.

What Is ‘Agent Carter’ About?

The series centers around the titular Agent Margaret “Peggy” Carter following World War II. She is still serving the United States, working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (S.S.R.), a wartime agency that later became a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. The first season has Carter grieving the loss of Steve Rogers, trying to prove that Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) is innocent of treason with the help of his butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy), and showing herself a worthy agent to the sexist S.S.R. brass. The second season has Carter traveling to Los Angeles to investigate a scientific anomaly and a massive corporate conspiracy involving an actress, Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), and a secret organization of wealthy elites.

Agent Carter succeeds because it creates a unique identity within the Marvel catalog as a post-war spy thriller from the late 1940s. This period has not been covered substantially in the MCU, beyond Howard Stark being filtered through some flashbacks and Toby Jones’ monologue in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. World War II is a significant period in U.S. history, and that is characterized in The First Avenger. But the period directly after is also fascinating within the MCU because this is where they planted the seeds of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. These organizations shaped US politics in the MCU, and Agent Carter starts to build these threads. Such is shown in Jones’ cameo at the end of Season 1; that small scene, with him outlining why America is the land of opportunity even for villains, alludes to Hydra’s rise through S.H.I.E.L.D. as shown in The Winter Soldier.

Yes, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with the behind-the-scenes actions of the government in a world of heroes, but Agent Carter engages with a pre-Avengers landscape still figuring out how to deal with superheroes. Yes, there is the possibility of building another super soldier, but this series focuses on the other heroes behind the scenes who kept Earth safe before Iron Man and Captain America popped onto the scene. Not to mention, the agents at the S.S.R. helped shape the government for years to come. Seeing their successes and their failures helps flesh out the rise and fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the existence of figures like Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier and Alexander Pierce.

‘Agent Carter’: The Rare Woman-Led Marvel Series

The cast of 'Agent Carter.' — The cast of ‘Agent Carter.’

That starts with Atwell, who is undeniably great in the series. The show, along with Jessica Jones, was one of the few MCU properties led by a woman at the time, and Atwell did the MCU justice. She rolled into the lead from her Captain America: The First Avenger performance deftly, giving Carter the edge and wit she needs to go toe-to-toe with several big baddies and her hot-headed, misogynistic industry. At the same time, Carter also emphasizes that she wants to do the best for people and tries to act with the morals of Steve Rogers, sometimes to a fault. With that said, she has earned her grief over Rogers because she has no time to get over him, given that she’s fighting to save Stark’s legacy, earn the trust of the S.S.R., and, oh yeah, deal with WWII fallout. Like WandaVision after it, Agent Carter spends a great deal of time reckoning with grief, and Atwell handles this perfectly.

The show also features a fantastic supporting cast around Atwell. Shea Whigham — who does great work in almost everything he is in, by the way — plays S.S.R. Chief Dooley, who conveys both the stresses of dealing with the job and his family life and the growth in trusting Carter. Enver Gjokaj is fantastic as Agent Daniel Sousa, an S.S.R. employee who was injured in the war and is supportive of Carter. Chad Michael Murray sells the brutish, cold, tough side of Agent Jack Thompson, while also subtly portraying the heartbreaking attributes of the character; he has a great monologue with Carter about his failures during WWII.

On a lighter side, James D’Arcy is delightful as Jarvis, serving as a comedic foil to Carter in several instances while also being a useful assistant (he deserved that cameo in Avengers: Endgame). In Season 2, Reggie Austin comes in as Dr. Jason Wilkes, a charming scientist who helps Carter with her investigation and serves as a brief romantic interest and conflict after he comes in contact with zero matter (which will be explained shortly).

‘Agent Carter’s Fantastic Villains

In addition, the show highlights some interesting villains. The first season introduces Leviathan, a Russian organization fighting back within the Cold War. They are represented by two figures: The first, Dotty Underwood (played brilliantly by Bridget Regan), is a sleeper agent who originally moves in next to Carter while watching her and the S.S.R. The other is psychiatrist Johann Fennhoff (Ralph Brown), who tricks Carter and the S.S.R. into trusting him to get access to Stark’s weapons, hypnotizing several agents. The sequences when Fennhoff deceives several people are some of the most compelling scenes in the series, taking the characters into these dreamlike places away from the cold, dark reality of the situation.

Season 2 introduces Whitney Frost, a name used as an alias for Madame Masque in most Marvel comic series. Frost is an actress and a scientific genius (her story is based on that of Hedy Lamarr). She comes into contact with Zero Matter, an implosive substance described as “more dangerous than anything we’ve ever seen.” Frost is taking control of her life for the first time after years of working in the background, showing up to a film with an artificial smile. The only shame is that she is stripped of her powers by the end of the season, but Everett makes the most of her time as the character.

So, Why Didn’t ‘Agent Carter’ Last?

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter in a crowd in Agent Carter

So why didn’t the show attract more viewers? Well, the series did get convoluted at points, trying to explain each character’s backstory and tie every moving part together. And to an extent, the show tends to move in circles before getting to the exciting parts of the plot. Each season works through several villains that manage to die within episodes of their introduction. There are also multiple diversions over the course of the series, from Peggy’s theater friend Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca) to the sloppy Agent Krzeminski (Kyle Bornheimer), that force talented actors into forgettable, stereotypical 1940s roles. Not to mention that some of the hand-to-hand action is shot and edited too quickly, and some of the sets look considerably cheaper than the MCU films and later series.

Yes, the show has some shortcomings, but overall, Agent Carter is still a special series. It holds an interesting place in the MCU’s history that may not have garnered the audience it deserved, but it forever provided an outlet for Peggy Carter to shine.

Agent Carter is now streaming on Disney+.