The cast and crew of Agent Carter season 2 shared hints and hopes for their upcoming season at San Diego Comic-Con.
Showrunners Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas agree that the bond between Peggy and Jarvis was “the heart of the show” in the first season. While Peggy’s move to Los Angeles will shake up several relationships in Agent Carter season 2, have no intention of leaving Jarvis out of the action.
“The nice thing about moving [season 2] to L.A. is that it’s a really organic way to include Jarvis, by using Howard Stark,” Fazekas says. The irrepresable Howard “has moved to L.A. because that’s where the tech industry is starting up, [as well as] the atomic industry,” she notes.
The long-suffering Jarvis will be charged with the responsibility of setting up Howard’s estate in Los Angeles – think “Playboy Mansion meets Neverland, with flamingos and chicks in bikins,” Fazekas laughs.
“Howard is trying to set up a movie studio,” James D’Arcy shares, “Which I’m pretty sure Jarvis is going to take a fairly dim view of.” The actor notes that Jarvis and Peggy will have “quite different reactions” to their respective cross-country moves.
“My suspicion is that Peggy will quite enjoy L.A.,” he says, but “I’m not convinced that Jarvis is going to enjoy the relentless sunshine. I think he might have a very British reaction to all of that… I feel like we’re going to have some fun, though.”
“We’re going to have a lot of fun!” Hayley Atwell agrees, adding that Peggy is now better emotionally equipped to make a fresh start in California.
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“She’s in a better place in her life,” Atwell says. “She’s gotten over the death of Steve finally, and can move on — not just romantically with other people, but in herself. I think she’s come to a sense of contentment and peace within her work life and her personal life. So there’s room for her to have a bit of fun.”
Speaking of fun (or perhaps the opposite) Fazekas also suggests that significant changes will have occurred in Peggy’s relationship with Daniel Sousa. Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) will return in Agent Carter season 2, but fans shouldn’t expect S.S.R. business as usual.
“[Their relationship] has changed, in maybe an unexpected way,” Fazekas says. “We’ll find Sousa in an unexpected place, with some unresolved things between [him and Peggy].”
Other relationships are still up in the air, from a production standpoint. Showrunner Tara Butters expressed her appreciation for the “wonderful friendship” between Peggy and Lyndsy Fonseca’s Angie, but cautions that not every story decision is in her and Fazekas’s control.
“We hope that we’ll be able to see them together,” Butters says. “The fact is we don’t own Lyndsy Fonseca, but we’re hopeful!”
As for Peggy, Atwell also acknowledges that personal victories won’t protect her from further challenges — though Peggy may be better-equipped to handle what 1947 throws her way.
“She knows her own value by the end of season 1,” Atwell says, “But she’s still locked into the social stigmas of the time, which means she’s always going to up amongst obstacles among people that she’s working with. I think that will probably deepen, and she’ll be faced with many personal obstacles that she now has to fight her way through.”
Still, the indomitable Agent Carter has “proved something to herself, so I think she can fight a lot harder now,” Atwell says. “She has a lot more self-confidence.”
For herself, Atwell is looking forward to taking Agent Carter season 2 across the country.
“There’s so many more exciting things to explore by shifting it to a whole new location and adding new characters,” she says. And of course, California offers a few specific possibilities.
“I’d love to find Betty Davis and become best friends with her, or something fabulous,” Atwell said with a smile.
Agent Carter season 2 will air early next year on ABC.