So I did end up rewatching the pilots to both Agent Carter and Daredevil and it was a nice little reminder of days gone by for both. Starting with Agent Carter, right off the bat it just has a different feel to it from Agents of SHIELD. Whereas that is an ensemble show, this is Peggy’s show from top to bottom. And you could not ask for a better lead than Hayley Atwell (who should have been the Thirteenth Doctor!) and it’s still sad that this show got cancelled. The time period also helps to set the tone although unfortunately the backlot filming is appallingly clear for most of the episode. Agents of SHIELD had this same issue. ABC was just not throwing a decent amount of money at this experimental series and it shows on the screen.
Where the show does soar is the action with interesting fights where Peggy uses her environments to her advantage. Taking a thug down by stapler is a highlight in the pilot. Agent Carter also used the time period to comment on the sexism of the era. This was a highly regarded agent during WWII that many now consider to just be Captain America’s girlfriend. Peggy, not one to wallow, uses this to her advantage and it allows her to operate right under the noses. Her chemistry with both Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark (woefully underused) and James D’Arcy as Edwin Jarvis (perfect casting) gives the show a shot of much needed humor and camaraderie. The whole series (all TWO seasons) is available on Hulu if you have not had the chance to see this little gem.
Daredevil is definitely a completely different tone from both SHIELD and Carter. Marvel was definitely throwing money at this series as their plan was for a small screen version of the Avengers by having multiple series eventually crossover into a miniseries. The Daredevil pilot acts largely standalone (leading me to believe they filmed this first and left it relatively close-ended so they could still air it should the series not get picked up). Charlie Cox is well cast as the man without fear (here sporting an all black costume in his early days of crimefighting). Marvel series have excelled in one area: their villains are some of the best because they have time to evolve and don’t need to be shoehorned into a two hour film. We don’t see much of Wilson Fisk in the pilot but his presence is certainly felt as we’re introduced to his crime cabal that Daredevil will slowly dismantle over the course of the season.
Not so much an issue in this episode, but would be for the series going forward is that is it WAY too dark. There were times I had no idea what was going on as the fight scenes usually take place at night with no strong lightning. I don’t remember this being an issue for other Netflix series however it’s still a problem in the second season (amongst other things). The supporting cast are given a chance to shine with special shout-outs to Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page (whose arrest for murder is what really kicks off the series) and Toby Leonard Moore as Fisk’s right hand man, Wesley, oozing sliminess with a dash of debonair and a touch of menace.
In the end, even though I’m woefully short on time to watch everything I need to, I was glad to rewatch both of these. It puts the larger MCU into context (Vanko makes an appearance in Agent Carter and the incident [from Avengers] is credited as allowing Fisk to rise to power in New York). This can also be a detriment as there are so many clips from Captain America: First Avenger used in the Agent Carter pilot. And then you have Netflix which barely likes to cover what’s going on in the MCU making it feel almost like a separate universe to the MCU at large. A friend and I joked that the Avengers tend to ignore anything going on outside Midtown even while the city burns during a gang war. Age of Ultron will be later today.
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