Dark
Light
Illustration of Peggy Carter from Agent Carter

‘Agent Carter’ Might Be Gone, but Peggy and Sousa Are Sticking Around

Fans have revived the call to reboot the prematurely canceled show. While that might not happen, the characters could reappear in unexpected ways.
January 24, 2021
7 mins read

Agent Carter” began in 2015 and ran for two seasons. The show follows the crime-busting life of Peggy Carter after Captain America’s presumed death. As the only female agent at the SSR, she’s treated more like a receptionist than an equal, despite — as viewers find out — being quite capable of defeating multiple SSR agents in a fight.

When Howard Stark comes to Peggy for help in clearing his name, she puts her skills to the test in a hunt for the bad guys. Although Howard isn’t in the show a lot, his butler, Mr. Jarvis, is, and the dynamic between Peggy and Jarvis is one of the best aspects of the TV show.

Season 2 ends on a cliffhanger, with the freshly redeemed Thompson being murdered and Peggy’s file stolen. Peggy and Sousa finally get together, although we know from recent Marvel releases that they don’t get married or stay together forever.

This caused heartbreak for many fans, but Sousa finds another strong, crime-fighting agent to fall in love with — Daisy Johnson, aka Quake from “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Sousa in “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

In the final season of the beloved “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” fans of “Agent Carter” were shocked by the appearance of Agent Sousa, and those who hadn’t watched “Agent Carter” fell in love with him and his old-fashioned chivalry immediately.

As the S.H.I.E.L.D. team jumps through time to prevent the timeline from being disrupted by the Chronicoms (highly advanced synthetic robots), Phil and Simmons go undercover. Simmons impersonates Peggy Carter and encounters Sousa, who locks them up and criticizes Simmons’ “fake” British accent.

Daisy comes in to save them, pretending to be CIA. Later on, the team finds out that they need to ensure Sousa’s death to preserve the timeline, obviously making them doubt their duty. In the end, Coulson fakes Sousa’s death, preserving the timeline and bringing Sousa on board. This leads to some genuinely heart-warming moments where Sousa’s mannerisms, dress sense and dialogue contrast with the modern-day team — “It’s peachy.”

Sousa’s return was a shock to audiences, and it reopened the floodgates for fans of “Agent Carter,” who still long for the show to return. Enver Gjokaj, the actor who plays Sousa, was delighted at the opportunity to reprise his role, calling it “a blast.”

His return led fans to hope that Peggy may have a guest appearance on the show too. The actress quickly shut down this rumor, despite her confirmation that she would love to play Peggy again.

So, if two of the main characters of “Agent Carter” would be over the moon to be Peggy and Sousa again, why doesn’t Marvel reboot the show? A now-defunct petition to revive “Agent Carter” gathered over 131,000 signatures. When there was still doubt about the show’s future, it was revealed that Season 3 would have explored Peggy’s upbringing, her brother and her relationship with the Jarvises.

Despite popular demand, it seems reasonably certain that “Agent Carter” will not be making a comeback the way viewers want. However, Marvel has come up with another way to keep fans happy. With Sousa having his happily ever after in “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” it is unlikely fans will see him again.

Peggy Carter in “What if…?”

Regarding Peggy Carter, she will reprise her role in the Marvel TV show “What if…?” While not much is known about the show yet, Marvel has revealed that it will be animated (yeah, I’m not thrilled about that either), and it will explore parallel universes where events from the MCU timeline play out differently, evoking the butterfly effect that changes history.

Marvel has released some teasers, telling fans that “What if…?” will explore several storylines — for example, what would have happened if Peggy Carter took the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, and what if T’Challa was Star-Lord.

This led many to ask why Peggy wasn’t chosen in the first place. Sure, Captain Britain doesn’t have the same ring to it, but Peggy has a good heart, is a natural leader and is very capable in combat. The only reason I can think of is that she is a woman, while Steve is an attractive, patriotic man. I suppose there is the question of her pure Englishness, and the U.S. government would want an American hero that is actually American.

While it’s not the return fans expected, or necessarily wanted, Marvel has made a compromise that allows them to make more money while giving the long-time fans some more material to chew on. “What if…?” doesn’t have a confirmed release date, but it is expected to come out in summer 2021.

Emily Davies, Solent University

Writer Profile

Emily Davies

Solent University
Journalism

Third year journalism student, interested in literature and environmental issues.

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Don't Miss