Looks like Peggy Carter has more than one shot, after all.
Mere hours after pilots for four DC Comics/VERTIGO properties were picked by by various television networks, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that ABC has picked up Agent Carter, based on the short film Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter that was featured on the Iron Man 3 home video release.
Hayley Atwell will reprise her role as Agent Peggy Carter, who first appeared in the film Captain America: The First Avenger and again in the sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Set one year after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, Agent Carter follows Steve Rogers' World War II love interest as she builds her career as a secret agent while Captain America remains frozen in ice.
According to the article, "The story is set in 1946 and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life -- Steve Rogers."
The Hollywood Reporter claims that Agent Carter will be a short-order series, probably used to fill in the winter hiatus for ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which received a renewal from ABC for a second season. Since Agent Carter explores the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D., it's expected both shows will tie in together at some point.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s renewal was a matter of some concern, after the series debuted last fall with 12.1 million viewers, only to lose over half that audience during the course of its troubled first season. However, the desperately-needed creative boost from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated on all levels by agents of HYDRA, has helped the show's key 18-49 demographic grow from 2.5 million adults to 4.1 million.
The Agent Carter script was written by Captain America screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley, and developed by ABC Studios and Marvel Entertainment, but was never given the greenlight for a pilot. Instead, there was a rumored presentation filmed for executives that apparently did the job. Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas will serve as showrunners.
Agent Carter is expected to debut on ABC sometime in late 2014.