I'm still dancing jitterbugs around my apartment in celebration of the fact that Marvel's Agent Carter was renewed for a second season on ABC. That means more snarky Howard Stark, snarky Angie, adventures in post-war espionage, fantastic pin-curl hairstyles, and more of Peggy & Jarvis exchanging terribly British jabs at one another. When is Agent Carter coming back? It's hard to believe that the first season only had eight episodes and I absolutely cannot wait for more. Update: TVLine reported that Agent Carter Season 2 will premiere midseason, just like its first season. Update 2: TVLine later reported that Agent Carter Season 2 will premiere on Jan. 5. Update 3: According to TV.com, Agent Carter Season 2's premiere date was delayed until Jan. 19, due to a State of the Union address being scheduled for Jan. 12.
While this does mean that ABC is not going forward with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff that featured Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, I have to admit that I think they made the right move. Agent Carter has a different vibe and has the opportunity to tell some fun stories in Season 2 that are nothing like what Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently dealing with. The series is essentially a prequel to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, if you think about it. The first season gave us an insightful parallel of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers' relationship with Howard and Peggy. We also got some much-needed Black Widow backstory as well as some hints about Bucky Barnes.
We'll have a better idea later this week when ABC gives their Upfront presentation and unveils the fall schedule. However, there are three basic routes that they could take with Agent Carter. Either way is a win for us because Season 2 is a go!
Midseason Madness
Most likely what'll happen is that ABC will do the same thing that they did this year and put Agent Carter in the same timeslot as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the midseason hiatus. That way, we're never without some kick-ass Marvel action on Tuesday nights. That would set the premiere date at around January or February of 2016.
Fall Is All Around
It's unlikely that ABC will bring Agent Carter back in the fall at the same time of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — however, I can think of a reason why they might want to take a risk and do just that. This is a transmedia universe, and premiere dates matter when you're telling a grand story with many moving parts. Agent Carter Season 2 is not the next time that we'll see this character in the Marvel Universe. Peggy Carter is slated to appear in Ant-Man, which opens in July. Presumably this will be in a flashback. Iron Man 2's John Slattery is playing Howard Stark, meaning their scenes will likely take place in the 1970s or 1980s. That said, it could inform the direction that Agent Carter takes next. If what she and Howard are up to in Ant-Man is particularly juicy, bringing back Agent Carter sooner rather than later could be beneficial.
Summer In The City
Another option that ABC could employ is to make this a summer series for 2016. I don't want to have to wait that long either. However, for major networks, summer is a time to try new things when their regular programming is off and all of us have fled to HBO, Showtime, Netflix and AMC for our television fix. There isn't as much pressure to get high ratings, which could benefit the show creatively. Another benefit to putting Agent Carter on ABC's summer schedule is that it could allow for a larger episode order. While I think that Season 1's limited episode count helped give us a tight and more focused story, I wouldn't complain if we got more Peggy.
Images: Bob D’Amico/ABC; Giphy (3)
