But on the West Coast, the scientific community is booming as is the crime rate.
How will Peggy handle the bright lights of Hollywood?
We were watching and talking about a lot of film noir and even sort of modern film noir likeL.A.
Credit: Patrick Wymore/ABC
ConfidentialandChinatown, and it seemed to really lend itself to this bang out of storytelling.
Its an idea that weve been kicking around for a while.
It was a very organic way to keep him involved in the show.
So Jarvis is setting up his Beverly Hills estate.
It works on a lot of levels and really infuses a nice new look into the show.
I love the look of it.
The first season really explored Peggy dealing with sexism in the workplace.
What are some of the themes youll be exploring this season?
Its not like were telling a story where, Hey, its 1947 and sexism no longer exists!
But we told that story for Peggy.
We deal with it a little bit in different ways.
Thematically theres a couple of things:
TARA BUTTERS:Reinventing yourself.
Peggy, at the end of last season, said goodbye to Cap; shes done her mourning.
Part of it is, shes ready to open up a new part of her life.
Its like, Maybe I can actually have something beyond work.
We do have a little bit of romance for her, which is a new thing.
Hes a private investigator and not really getting involved in his cases.
As she goes through this season, she starts to uncover the corruption, even within her own organization.
With cynicism, she can see that not everybody around me is a good person.
It makes her make decisions that you dont necessarily expect her to make.
We send her on an interesting journey in that way.
What can say about the love interest and how the second season will be exploring race?
BUTTERS:Hes African-American.
He is a scientist at Isodyne, which is the company that Whitney Frost and Calvin Chadwick own.
We address these issues and explain it along the way.
We do encounter racism in the show.
It was an interesting thing to explore.
Peggy, of all people, could understand his predicament.
Who is this seasons big bad?
FAZEKAS:The big bad is Whitney Frost, whos played by Wynn Everett.
What I like about how we told the story this season is that we see her from the beginning.
We see her go from just a person whos manipulative.
You see her become a villain.
We also tell some of her backstory in episode 4.
We see her become our version of Madame Masque.
We took a page from that and put that into our Madame Masque character.
How much is she similar to what we know in the comics?
FAZEKAS:It is our version of it.
She never wears a gold mask, but youll see a nod to that.
BUTTERS:It is definitely our version.
We took ownership of this character.
We definitely do our interpretation of the character.
Whats the dynamic like between Whitney and Peggy?
BUTTERS:But I also just really love seeing Peggy go up against another woman.
I mean this is cat-and-mouse game play going on.
FAZEKAS:Because we never portray Whitney Frost as somebody who is physical.
Shes not going to get into big fights.
She does become formidable.
Its connected to Doctor Strange world.
Its from the Doctor Strange universe.
Weve actually been able to go much more into the Marvel Universe and how that is interpreted in 1947.
And Darkforce is something that we saw onAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
FAZEKAS:Exactly, yeah.
BUTTERS:The interesting thing about Darkforce is that it affects everybody differently who comes in contact with it.
How has Peggy changed since weve seen her last?
BUTTERS:She has moved on, in a sense.
FAZEKAS:She has opened up to the possibility of having a personal life.
Its not just Wilkes, the other side of the romantic triangle is Sousa.
I have something to do.
They both walked away from that interaction with very different impressions.
She has this little smile on her face like, Oh, maybe thats something I might consider.
They havent spoken since he left.
Theres that interesting awkward when they start working together again.
Oh, did I just miss an opportunity here?
What does their working dynamic look like?
BUTTERS:Its interesting.
Are you going to get into Peggys history and how she joined the SSR?
BUTTERS:Yes, we will.
Peggy no longer has to hide who she is and she can live up to her potential.
What are the challenges in Peggy discovering herself?
FAZEKAS:What you start to see with Wilkes is she has a dangerous job.
Part of it is, I dont want to put anybody else in danger.
Or, do I take that risk?
Its a risk that other people have to take too.
Its a bit of a struggle for her.
In the second episode that struggle becomes really apparent.
yo let me drive you around, because Ive been so bored.
Or do I want to take on this adventure, but there is a cost to the adventure?
What are we seeing for the Peggy and Jarvis duo this season?
FAZEKAS:We put them a little bit through the wringer this season.
What role is Jarvis playing for her this year?
Talk about the dynamichis wife Ana(Lotte Verbeek) has with Jarvis and Peggy.
Hes never going to be married to some buttoned-up, prim person.
BUTTERS:He works for Howard Stark, for Gods sake.
FAZEKAS:She and Peggy have like this instant rapport.
Shes worried about Peggy, and shes worried about her husband.
Its what I like about her.
Now that the war is over, what does this mean for the future of the SSR?
FAZEKAS:Its interesting because we did a lot of historical research on it.
The SSR is somewhat based historically on the OSS.
The OSS was a wartime agency.
So I dont necessarily think we need to be telling the same story, but things are certainly changing.
Talk about some of the new characters that will be joining the show this year.
Hes obviously very funny, but he also is a great dramatic actor.
We had talked about him for a different role, but it was too small of a role.
Then we knew we wanted him in Manfredi role.
So that role became so much bigger because it was Ken.
Now hes back, and they go to him for a favor.
Hes coming back into the picture.
Their scenes together, theres such a tenderness to them, even though hes also really funny.
I would write the Joe Manfredi character with Ken Marino all day long.
Will we see other familiar faces?
FAZEKAS:Howard Stark comes back.
Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan) comes back.Of course, you knowthat Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca) is back.
BUTTERS:Dottie well see in the first episode.
She is always there to be a thorn in the side of Peggy.
FAZEKAS:But shes a lone wolf right now.
What I love about the way Bridget plays Dottie is that she needs Peggy in a way.
FAZEKAS:She has this love-hate relationship with Peggy
BUTTERS:In a verySingle White Femalekind of way.
Hes just fun to have.
BUTTERS:And we have two other recurring that I think are fantastic additions to our cast.
Lesley Boone, who plays Rose, was in season 1.
FAZEKAS:Lesley, who we knew fromEd, did the pilot again as a favor to us.
We really expanded her role.
Shes come out to L.A. with Sousa to help them open up the L.A. office.
FAZEKAS:Hes a comedy guy, who plays the lab tech who is kind of disgruntled.
Hes so funny because everything he says is completely earnest, but hilarious.
He just annoys everyone.
He also has his little hero moments as well.
Marvels Agent Carterdebuts Tuesday at 9 p.m.
