While world-widely praised, the Captain America spin-off Agent Carter has received very lackluster ratings, coming to a series low in the season two premiere Tuesday night. The ratings are surely not a reflection of the material, as Marvel takes us back to a very realistic 1947 Las Angeles with a very supernatural mission.
Fan favorites have come back and they have changed, and new enemies have emerged with agendas conflicting with those of our hero, Agent Peggy Carter. I for one can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings, and God willing, what future seasons will bring.
That brings me to my latest sprout of maddening thoughts, compiled into this one little article for your leisure. Ladies and gentlemen, here are five Marvel Comics villains who I feel would make worthy adversaries for everyone's favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. founder in the future.
5). Don Rigoletto
I know what you're thinking. Dante Rigoletto might be the most insignifant character in all of Daredevil's world, but then again Peggy Carter herself was a pretty irrelevant character until Captain America: The First Avenger came along. In the 1940's, I would envision Rigoletto as a young but feared mafia boss (or agent?) with all sorts of connections and strings to pull--hell, connect him to the Maggia. He would operate mostly on the streets, but I feel connecting him to a bigger picture (like an expanded role of Otto Minks in the first season) would be a nice connection between two vastly different shows, and reaffirm that they're happening within blocks of each other, albeit across seven decades.
4). Hammerhead
Another villain unlikely to make it to the big screen is actually a Spider-Man foe, named Hammerhead. Real name Joseph, he is a viscous criminal connected to the Maggia. After chasing a life of crime, he wound up with his head crushed into fragments. Evidently, he didn't learn his lesson, as he returned to that same life after being saved by surgeon Jonas Harrow. Harrow replaced his broken bones with a steel alloy, which left him with his head flattened. His sense of fashion definitely fits that of the 1940s, and since Agent Carter is used to dealing with his special breed of asshole, I feel like he would fit right at home in her TV show. Perhaps he works with Rigoletto?
3). Yelena Belova
Ladies and gentlemen, Dottie Underwood.
Okay, we don't know if this is Dottie, but we know Dottie isn't her real name, so it's definitely on the table. Anything's possible in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I feel like anything from the comics could happen too, such as her prolonged aging. But we have no idea what's happening with Dottie, so let's pretend that she isn't Yelena.
Adding another Black Widow to the mix might seem repetitive, but I feel like it could bring out some great story if Dottie is still in the picture. I've always loved Hero VS Villain VS Villain stories, as they can bring about some of the coolest plot twists and tragedies. For instance, it's safe to assume Dottie could have gone rogue from Leviathan, so Yelena could be sent in to take her out or reform her. That one plotline could bring about so many emotional complexities for Dottie, perhaps even redeeming her, and Peggy dealing with the fallout of all that would be interesting to see.
2). William Burnside
When Agent Carter first began, I recall two antagonists that fans were clamoring for; one was the Winter Soldier, the other was the 1950's Captain America, whose real name is William Burnside. Burnside was obsessed with Cap, and even changed his name to Steve Rogers and took on the mantle for himself. However, the "Super Soldier" serum he tried on himself was flawed, and made him paranoid and an extremist, causing him to attack people unjustly.
Eventually, Doctor Faustus--who has been introduced already--gets ahold of him and brainwashes him into becoming the Grand Director. While we see the seeds of the Winter Soldier project begin to form in the first season finale, him appearing as antagonist would not have the same emotional punch as an extreme Captain America copycat would, especially if he descends into the murderous Grand Director.
1). Sinthea Schmidt
"Seeking an heir, the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) fathered a daughter with a washerwoman. After the woman died in childbirth, the Red Skull angrily almost killed the child as it was a girl. But his follower Susan Scarbo convinced him not to, telling him she would raise the girl herself as her nanny. Red Skull agreed and left the girl now named "Sinthea Schmidt" with Scarbo to be raised by her and indoctrinated with Red Skull's views as she grew up. Red Skull returned when Sinthea was a child and put her in a machine that had her aged into adulthood and gave her superhuman powers."
And that, dear friends, is my shameless Wikipedia quote.
What would be more fitting for a Captain America spin-off? Honestly, we'll probably never see Red Skull's daughter in the movies, as we don't even know if we'll see Red Skull himself. But I could definitely see a version of her character that was abondoned by Johann Schmidt in his search for higher power, which turned her into a cruel person.
I don't think it would be wise to have her empowered by the formula, and making her face just like Schmidt's face would not only be expensive but feel like a cheap rip-off. What I would do instead is have her wear a red mask similar to the one Black Mask wears on the DC side of things, one clearly modeled after her father's face. Bitter and angry with the world, she would be just as insane as villains like the Joker or Cletus Kasady AKA Carnage, who are killers that enjoy it. She could come across Peggy in a number of ways, but the most plausible one is her attempt to create/steal an Atom bomb, which Howard Stark helped create.
That's my pitch, anyway.
You know that's all I got, fam. Let me know your opinions in the comment section below!