Why Agent Carter Was Canceled (Why Season 3 Didn’t Happen)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe was on its way to the peak of its popularity in the mid-2010s – so much so that there were several greenlit television offshoots. One was Agent Carter; a period piece featuring Captain America: The First AvengerHayley Atwell, who reprized her role as the title character in an acclaimed eight-episode first season. It was later renewed for a second season, which ventured into uncharted territory, exploring some of the MCU’s more supernatural elements.

Unfortunately, Agent CarterThe show was cut short when it was canceled by ABC on May 12, 2016, ending its brief run at just 18 episodes. Fans spent years campaigning for a third season (it certainly deserved it) because they never understood why it was canceled. It’s hard to blame them, but if you feel the same way, here are some of the reasons behind making the decision here.

Agent Carter began its run on ABC with impressive ratings as its pilot episode was watched by nearly 7 million viewers. The first season maintained an average of around 5 million viewers, but this figure unfortunately dropped significantly in season 2, with most episodes being watched by between 2 and 3 million viewers. This ultimately led to ABC canceling the series after just two seasons.

These numbers aren’t bad at all (and certainly not by today’s standards), but the series was expensive to produce given that it was a period piece, which was probably taken into account in the decision. The unfortunate thing is that it appears the creatives behind the series weren’t involved in conversations about its future, with executive producer Jeph Loeb revealing they simply found out about its cancellation via a phone call from the network.

Hayley Atwell thought the series’ cancellation was “a matter of network policy”, telling IGN that ABC wanted her to headline a more “mainstream” drama like Conviction to “increase their grades”. She later starred in that show, but the legal drama only lasted one season before being canceled, which attracted a smaller overall audience than the show. Agent Carter did.

There was a huge online campaign to save the series, and it even caught the attention of Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos. The streamer at the time was working with Marvel on The Defenders saga, which included the highly successful Daredevil And Jessica Jones series, but unfortunately she decided against picking up the show for a third season due to the “complexities” of the international broadcast deals in place at the time, which would have prevented Netflix from releasing the show globally. This has become less of an issue for the streamer over the years, as it has helped save shows on US networks like Lucifer And Manifest although they had deals internationally that prevented previous seasons from being shown in all locations.

Atwell continued to voice her support for the character and the fan campaign, revealing that she would “love to see” Peggy appear in more films:

“…the fact that we know she will live to be 96 means that, technically, I could work for the rest of my life”

– Hayley Atwell

The good news is that she’s had the chance to make those hopes come true, reappearing as a character on the big screen over the years in various MCU films.

While Agent Carter may have been cut short before its time, Hayley Atwell would continue to play a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recurring as Peggy Carter was needed. Before the series’ cancellation, she had already appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of UltronAnd The ant Manbut the character would still have a presence after that.

Peggy died off-screen during Captain America: Civil War but it wouldn’t be the last time we saw her either. She made an appearance in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers returned to the 1970s and saw her during her tenure as director of SHIELD. A younger version of her appeared in the film’s final scene as Steve traveled back in time to live the rest of his life with her. They were both happy to finally be able to dance and prepare for a life of married bliss. This is what they deserve.

Peggy got her happily ever after after all, but the Multiverse Saga has since introduced us to alternate versions of her. The most prominent of these was in the animated series And if…?, which introduced us to Captain Carter – a version of Peggy who took the super soldier serum when Steve was injured. Hayley Atwell returned to voice the character while also voicing alternate versions of Peggy throughout the series.

Atwell reappeared in live-action films in 2022 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a different version of Captain Carter, who was a member of the Illuminati and opponent of the Scarlet Witch.

Even if Agent Carter deserved a much longer runtime, it’s been great to see Hayley Atwell resurface again and again as the character (or its many variations) in the years since. The only thing that’s better is knowing that our Peggy got the happy ending with Steve that she dreamed of.