Marvel's AGENT CARTER Casts Ally and Antagonist

Here’s some good news for everyone looking forward to Marvel’s Agent Carter series. The studio’s second foray into primetime television looks really promising — it’s a kicky period piece with some great talent attached to it — but we don’t actually know much about it. They didn’t shoot a pilot (the Agent Carter Marvel One-Shot stood in for that), and as of San Diego Comic-Con, they hadn’t written any scripts. All we really know is that Hayley Atwell is returning to the role, and it is set in the immediate aftermath of World War 2 (and Steve Rogers' "death") and focuses on the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the titular agent’s struggles as a badass woman in a male-dominated industry.

But today Marvel has made two casting announcements, one fantastic, and one kind of meh. On the fantastic front, Enver Gjokaj has been cast as “sweet and honorable” Agent Daniel Sousa, who was maimed in the war. Gjokaj is best known for Joss Whedon’s gone before its time series Dollhouse. He also had a tiny role as “Young Cop” in The Avengers, because when Whedon likes you he will cast you in everything he ever does. Carter and Sousa will work together at the Strategic Science Reserve, an early pre-cursor to S.H.I.E.L.D. From leaked character descriptions, it looks like he will be a strong ally for Carter.

I am less enthusiastic about Chad Michael Murray being cast as Agent Jack Thompson, or at least I was until I read this description of the character. “Agent Jack Thompson is in his 30s, handsome and damn well knows it. The polar opposite of Dooley, he doesn’t take kindly to women in the workplace, nor how little recognition he gets. Worse, he wants Dooley’s job and is desperate to prove himself.” That sounds about right for Murray.

Agent Carter will air eight episodes while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on winter hiatus. Previous reports have indicated that the plot line will somehow be connected to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s second season, but we don’t know that for sure. What we do know is that Louis D’Esposito will direct the first episode, and then Joe and Anthony Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) will come on for episodes two and three, and Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) will take the helm for episode four. Johnston and the Russo Bros. aren’t in the habit of directing episodes of other people’s shows, so they just might see the potential for something great here. I hope so.

Sources: ScreenCrush, THR