Agent Carter, Superheroine
Tonight is the second week of ABC’s limited series of Marvels’ Agent Carter. Last week’s two-hour premiere kicked off with a short sequence directly reminding viewers of Peggy Carter’s significant role in 2011’s feature film Captain America: The First Avenger, then quickly re-established her skills, motivations, and sharp wit as a force to be reckoned with in her own right. The show also made fast work of portraying the deeply ingrained sexism of the post-war 1946 SSR, with Peggy exploiting her male counterpart’s prejudices to repeatedly achieve her goals while leaving them none the wiser. Amid the drama of her investigation of Howard Stark being (apparently) framed for treason and rousing combat sequences with the bad guys, Agent Carter gave Peggy an emotional character development arc as well, learning an important lesson from Jarvis about the importance of superheroes relying on allies rather than trying to fight every battle solo. She may not have superhuman powers, but Peggy is definitely a superheroine on the rise. Perhaps a new post in our Heroine’s Journey series may be in order.
If you’re interested in learning more about Agent Carter’s backstory over the decades of Captain America comics, and how the current Marvel Cinematic Universe draws upon some of those elements in crafting its version of Peggy Carter, don’t miss this great video by friend of FANgirl Alan Kistler, who participated in our Heroine’s Journey panel at GeekGirlCon in October.
Marvel’s Agent Carter airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays on ABC until Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns later in the spring.
B.J. Priester is editor of FANgirl Blog and contributes reviews and posts on a range of topics. A longtime Star Wars fandom collaborator with Tricia, he edited her novel Wynde and is collaborating with her on several future projects set in that original universe. He is a law professor in Florida and a proud geek dad.
B.J. has served as editor of FANgirl Blog from its inception, as well as contributing reviews and posts on a range of topics. He edited Tricia’s novel Wynde, and is collaborating with her on several future projects set in that original universe.
Currently a tenured law professor in Florida, B.J. has been a practicing lawyer in Washington, D.C., a law clerk to a federal appeals court judge, and a law journal editor-in-chief. He is also a proud geek dad whose son who is a big fan of Star Wars and The Clone Wars.
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