Marvel’s Peggy Carter May Be Coming To Television

It's very, very early days, and there are a host of factors standing between the idea and its realization, but maybe, just maybe, there might one day be a Peggy Carter TV show set in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Mmmmmaybe.

Deadline reports a rumor that a TV series centered on the World War II secret agent - first seen on screen in Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger - is in early stages of development. The character was played in the movie by Hayley Atwell, who reprised the role for an Agent Carter short that appears as an extra on the Iron Man 3 DVD, out next week.

The short may in fact have been created as a proof-of-concept for an Agent Carter TV show. Deadline notes that Marvel Studios did something similar with its Item 47 short on the Avengers DVD, which serves as a taster for the Agents of SHIELD TV series that launches on ABC next week.

Whether Atwell would be interested in a full-time TV gig is just one of the question marks hanging over a potential series. She's done plenty of TV work in the UK, but British TV doesn't require the same level of commitment as an American show, and leaves more room to build a parallel movie career.

The other major question is whether the audience interest is there. Agents of SHIELD seems like one of the safest bets in the new US fall TV schedule, given that it launches off the back of last year's Avengers movie, one of the biggest box office successes of all time.

Yet the scale of the SHIELD show's success will be a big factor in Marvel's and Disney's decision to expand the TV side of the cinematic universe. It's certainly a sign of confidence that Marvel is already lining up other ideas, and is in line with Disney and ABC's decision to launch a spin-off to its Disney fairy tale TV show Once Upon A Time with this year's Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.

Creating a show set in the same universe as Marvel's movies and the SHIELD show but in the 1940s might be a smart way to expand the setting without treading on Agents of SHIELD's shoes, and the idea of a show about Atwell's Carter punching Hydra agents in a period setting is undeniably appealing. Dare we dream that they could introduce Spitfire and Union Jack?

It's also encouraging to know that Marvel Studios is entertaining the idea of a female-led series. In an interview with SciFi Now, Natalie Portman, who plays Dr Jane Foster in the Thor movies, said that she's heard that a property with a "central female character" is coming. That could be the Agent Carter TV series, or it could be the rumored Captain Marvel movie, perhaps with Katee Sackhoff in the lead. There's also the Black Widow movie that, while unconfirmed, was mentioned by Stan Lee in passing as a candidate for a solo film.

Dare we hope for all three?

A Sif movie. A She-Hulk TV show. A Daughters of the Dragon TV show. Mockingbird. Moondragon. Wasp. Monica Rambeau. Kate Bishop. Miss America. Tigra. Hellcat. Valkyrie.

All of the above?

[Via ScreenCrush]