“if Peggy Carter had her own film, I would be 100% on board”
Exploring those moments of vulnerability is another hugely satisfying aspect of the series for Atwell. “What makes her stand alone is that she doesn’t have any superpowers. She’s an exceptional spy and code breaker. She has a lot of military training from her experience in the war. Her intelligence is that she has to use her environment and the props around her to counteract her enemies. She’s trained in combat and artillery training to escape situations but there’s also her blind courage. But that also means she can’t really get close to anyone.
“We also see there’s a cost for being so strong. And that’s exciting for me as an actor because I get to show different sides to her. I think I’ve cried about four times already as Peggy. You see her break down because of frustrations at work, from Steve or being misunderstood. Plus a very big thing will be revealed to her and she feels an element of betrayal that so affects her core she goes on a rampage. It’s what makes this series so special and powerful. We get to see she’s not always strong, because no one is. She is very human and underneath the surface of someone with that British reserve, she’s paddling like crazy all the time. It has to be released somewhere for it to be real otherwise people will see her as a robot.”
Atwell says she’s grateful that her showrunners, Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas and Chris Markus, share her desire to reveal these different facets of Peggy. “Tara and Michelle are two powerhouse women who are very funny and very sharp,” Atwell enthuses. “To have them as showrunners feels like women are well- represented here. Fans will also see strong characters in Angie Martinelli ( Lyndsy Fonseca), who is my friend and roommate and a couple of other characters who are fantastic women, including Carter’s landlady ( Meghan Frye) and Dottie ( Bridget Regan).” Sounds like Agent Carter will be powered by a strong female ensemble, still a comparative rarity in today’s TV landscape. “Funnily enough, on social media there were still some comments like ‘ It’s still such a man’s world’ and ‘ There are only a few women in a whole cast of men and I thought it would be different show!’” SFX senses Atwell bristle. “What they don’t know is the number of female crew that we have. In a scene yesterday, there were 17 people in this one office scene with cast and crew. For some reason, I counted and there were 10 men and seven women who were in really strong positions in the crew. There are a lot of women running this show and we are well represented and I think we will grow. We’ve got a female hero and that’s a quiet revolution in Hollywood which will hopefully encourage other women to step forward in essential roles.”
Atwell also hopes a Marvel TV show focused on a female character might impact, gender- wise, on the studio’s big screen strategy. “What’s great about the television show is that it’s essentially four films of screen time. It also gives me a chance to have a stronger arc for the character. I do think it’s going to start the ball rolling on having other roles for women in the Marvel Universe, even though they have strong females already with Black Widow and Pepper Potts. I wouldn’t be surprised if more came along and had their own features. And if Peggy Carter was invited to have her own film, I would be 100% on board with that because it’s a much needed and supported idea.”
Marvel is already committed to placing Peggy in upcoming movie adventures Ant- Man