Agent Carter loyalists have never stopped wishing that Captain America’s former beau would make a return to the MCU. British wartime super-spy Peggy Carter used to be a semi-regular face in the franchise, appearing on TV in her own show, guesting in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and popping up in four of the movies. However, the last time she was seen was all the way back in 2015’s Ant-Man. Come on, Marvel, get Hayley Atwell on the phone and bring her back already.
Actually, maybe it’s not the studio that needs to change their minds for that to happen. It turns out that Atwell herself isn’t too sure she’d like to play Peggy again. While talking at a panel during this weekend’s ACE Comic Con in Seattle, the actress revealed that – while she’s very grateful for the chance to play the character – she would find it “unusual” to be asked back.
“Well, I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to play a beloved character for so long, as is. It’s very unusual. I wouldn’t have thought starting off in my career that that would happen. You do one character for however many months and then you go and do the next. So I think it’s an unusual position to be in — it would be very unusual to have the choice to do that again.”
What’s more, Atwell went on to explain that a return for Peggy, whether it be a revival for Agent Carter or a movie, would have to offer her something new to do with the character to avoid going “over old ground.” In particular, the actress would be keen to do something that reflects “the current climate” to give the stories some extra depth.
“I think the main thing, though, is if it were — if there were interest in Netflix or in her being in a film or something — that it would have to feel… it would have to feel right. I wouldn’t want to go over old ground. It would have to be new, there would have to be higher production values so she could do more. I’d have to feel like it’s not just, you know, ‘a case a week with Peggy Carter.’ If she’s had an impact on audiences, let that impact grow, so it delights them, but I think it should be to do with more of the current climate now. What are smart issues to bring up? How to create any sort of kind of social weight, an emotional kind of gravitas to the show.”
Finally, Atwell said that she’d be “tentative” if Marvel approached her to come back, explaining that she’d need to be thoroughly convinced by their ideas that this hypothetical new project offered a “development” of what she’s already done with the character and something “new.”
“So I think on the principle of it, if somebody approached me with it, I would be appropriately kind of tentative about it. Because I would go, ‘well, but, you’ve got to convince me of why we need this, and what for, and how is this a development of the two seasons that we’ve done?’ So that’s more of the question — I’d just want to do something new with her.”
To be honest, we’re not sure how Atwell’s reluctance to return to the MCU fits in with those rumors that she’s set to reprise Peggy in Avengers 4 – these stem from the fact that she was in Georgia at the same time the movie was filming there. Could it’ve just been a coincidence or – and we’re putting our tin foil hats on here – is the actress covering up for her appearance as Agent Carter in next May’s blockbuster? Time will tell, but color us intrigued.
