Exclusive: Marvel Planning More ‘Captain America’ Spinoffs With Peggy Carter

One of the best things about the upcoming 'Iron Man 3' Blu-ray (besides, obviously, 'Iron Man 3') is the new Marvel short film, 'Agent Carter.' By far, the best of the Marvel "One Shots," 'Agent Carter' brings back Captain America's girlfriend Peggy Carter and shows us what her life is like for her after Cap gets stuck in ice. Star Hayley Atwell is fantastic as the budding secret agent in the short and our immediate reaction after watching 'Agent Carter' was, "Wow, Marvel needs more Peggy Carter..." And as it turns out Marvel agrees.

At an event to promote the 'Iron Man 3' Blu-ray, we caught up with Marvel Studios co-president and 'Agent Carter' director Louis D' Esposito and, while we'll have the full interview posted soon, we just had to ask him: when are we going to see more Peggy Carter? The answer? Soon.

Listen, we know this isn’t the last Peggy Carter story. We want to tell more because she’s so good. I remember when we first met her to play the role of Peggy Carter, and I was with Joe Johnston and we were in London and you try to keep a poker face, but I couldn’t hide and Joe couldn’t hide our feelings. “She’s the one! She’s the one!” She has a certain quality you just can’t articulate that. People gravitate to her, love her performance, even when she’s beating up people.

What format further Peggy Carter stories would follow, D'Esposito wouldn't say. Without spoiling the end of 'Agent Carter,' the Marvel short film opens up a wide range of opportunities for the character. We could certainly see more of the Marvel One Shots focusing on Peggy, the Howling Commandoes and the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. (or if Marvel were really getting ballsy, giving Peggy her own movie). We know that Peggy, as an elderly woman, makes a cameo appearance in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier,' but Marvel is clearly aiming higher with the character.

In a world where male comic book characters dominate the landscape, Marvel could take a major step forward in actively developing standalone stories dominated by a strong female character. Even moreso, one who is tough and beautiful without having to wear a leather corset (no offense, Catwoman). While DC continues to struggle to figure out Wonder Woman, Marvel could beat them to the punch once again with a successful female-led comic franchise.

The Marvel shorts, at times, seem to work as experiments; tests by Marvel to see what works and what doesn't ('Item 47' is very much an early version of ABC's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.') and 'Agent Carter' definitely works. Marvel wisely has plans to bring the character back and it will be interesting to see how they execute that.