"Agent Carter" season one discussion and spoilers

[Reverend]

The SHIELD logo maybe, but the photos could have been taken years earlier then just picked out to use when the bunker was setup.

Generally speaking such photos of the boss are kept more or less up-to date. A few years at most. So it was most likely abandoned in the late 40's, early 50's at the outside.
It'd be different if they had left the organization, but we know Peggy at least was active until the 80's and Howard probably until his death in '91. At least I assume so since it was implied his death was arranged by Hydra after he'd cottoned onto them somehow.

I don't think there'll be a huge jump to season 2 anyway, maybe 1948 at most, unless they want to imply the 1947 Roswell event was an SSR experiment with repulsor technology and start there.

Nevada isn't all that far off from LA for a setup to the season.

I tend to agree that they probably won't jump ahead all that far. A year at the outside maybe?

Ohh, not Roswell. I'm so sick of the Roswell myth. It gave us a killer Futurama episode and a funny DS9 episode, but it's been done entirely to death by this point so pleasepleasepleeeeeze let it die already.

Funny you should mention that: a while ago I was freeze framing all those documents that flashed up during Zola's big exposition dump looking for easter eggs and (after a google search) one of them as it turns out appears to have been lifted from some supposed memo regarding MJ-12 that's been re-printed in several Roswell conspiracy theory books.

The curious thing is that the content memo itself is fairly innocuous and the in version that flashes on screen in the movie, the mention of MJ-12 is redacted. Apparently someone in the art department is a conspiracy theory buff and/or has a sense of humour.


Also of possible relevance is the Avengers prelude comic that has Coulson's team using a SHIELD base in Roswell as the staging ground for their operations in 'Thor'.

There is at least one small mercy: we know the Kree corpse wasn't from the Roswell incident as that thing was in Reinhardt's possession some two years prior.

 

[Kemaiku]

He could have come into possession of it earlier than that as well, finding it in the early 40's maybe so yeah no connection there.

I don't mind the Roswell stuff, having not bothered with nearly any of it over the years, doesn't interest me. I just thought it would have been a nice idea, since SHIELD or the World Security Council may have had a hand in the R&D there.

The Helicarrier program could have been worked on there too, as I doubt Newport would have kept that a secret.

 

[DEWLine]

Remember the prototype for the flying car at that 1943 World's Fair (or whatever it was Steve and Bucky attended)?

That's where the Helicarrier tech started, too. With the same flying car.

 

[Christopher]

I don't mind the Roswell stuff, having not bothered with nearly any of it over the years, doesn't interest me. I just thought it would have been a nice idea, since SHIELD or the World Security Council may have had a hand in the R&D there.

The Helicarrier program could have been worked on there too, as I doubt Newport would have kept that a secret.

Wait a minute, are you talking about Area 51, the US Air Force facility that's evidently used for testing experimental aircraft and weapons, and that's often believed to be housing crashed UFOs and whatnot? That's not in Roswell. UFO lore claims it houses the remains of the Roswell crash, but Roswell is in southeastern New Mexico, while Area 51 is just northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. They're over 770 miles apart by highway. At the time of the alleged incident, Roswell was home to an Army air field (later an Air Force base), which was where the weather-balloon remains were taken for analysis, but it closed in 1967. I guess people tend to confuse the two because they're both in the American Southwest and have associations with UFO folklore. (Heck, I myself didn't realize just how far apart they were until I looked it up just now. I thought they were at least in the same state.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.

Well, technically the McCarthy Era did kick off around 1950, and the Hollywood investigations started before that. And the Soviets tested their first bombs soon after WWII. So the story could still involve the Communism versus Anti-Communism slappy fight.

Whatever. I'm sure it will be great. They obviously know what they're doing.

Maybe the big bad for this season will be the commie smasher Cap from the 50s.

That would be fantastic. I hope they give Englehart credit if they do.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.

Well, technically the McCarthy Era did kick off around 1950, and the Hollywood investigations started before that. And the Soviets tested their first bombs soon after WWII. So the story could still involve the Communism versus Anti-Communism slappy fight.

Whatever. I'm sure it will be great. They obviously know what they're doing.

Maybe the big bad for this season will be the commie smasher Cap from the 50s.

That would be fantastic. I hope they give Englehart credit if they do.

Well Englehart had a hand in Peggy's creation. He gave her a name and the connection to Sharon. (Though Stan Lee laid the groundwork) So I hope he's getting some credit already.

 

[Christopher]

^Marvel shows and films always have a "Special Thanks" section in the end credits for the comics creators behind the characters and ideas they use, those who aren't contractually entitled to creator credits, anyway. He's been included at least once in Agent Carter, according to IMDb, but its listings aren't necessarily exhaustive.

 

[JD]

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.

Here's the Marvel Database entry for Area 51

Area 51 is a secret US military base used by the Gamma Corps and owned by Tony Stark, who used it to hide the Reality Gem.
There was also held captive the In-Betweener, fred by Miss America on Barnell Bohusk's and Angel Salvadore's intel, and the two of them were targeted in the desert next by Braak'nhüd.
]

There isn't really much for Roswell there. It just says it was a hotspot of UFO activity in the 1940s.

 

[Skywalker]

In the MCU tie-in comics, SHIELD had a facility at Roswell. Coulson stopped there to gather a team for tracking down the anomaly near Puente Antiguo. But I highly doubt anything in the comics is really considered "canon."

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Yeah, probably not.

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.

Maybe the big bad for this season will be the commie smasher Cap from the 50s.

That would be fantastic. I hope they give Englehart credit if they do.

Well Englehart had a hand in Peggy's creation. He gave her a name and the connection to Sharon. (Though Stan Lee laid the groundwork) So I hope he's getting some credit already.

Cool, I didn't know that.

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.

Here's the Marvel Database entry for Area 51

Area 51 is a secret US military base used by the Gamma Corps and owned by Tony Stark, who used it to hide the Reality Gem.
There was also held captive the In-Betweener, fred by Miss America on Barnell Bohusk's and Angel Salvadore's intel, and the two of them were targeted in the desert next by Braak'nhüd.
]

There isn't really much for Roswell there. It just says it was a hotspot of UFO activity in the 1940s.

Maybe they'll decide it was originally created by Howard Stark in the MCU.

 

[Relayer1]

Remember the prototype for the flying car at that 1943 World's Fair (or whatever it was Steve and Bucky attended)?

That's where the Helicarrier tech started, too. With the same flying car.

Wasn't the original Torch on display there too ?

 

[DEWLine]

Someone with a suspiciously high degree of resemblance to Jim Hammond, or so I thought.

 

[Reverend]

^^ Yeah, probably not.

I'd be fine with them using either Roswell or Area 51 or both. I don't recall offhand if either one of them have any meaning in mainstream Marvel mythology.


That would be fantastic. I hope they give Englehart credit if they do.

Well Englehart had a hand in Peggy's creation. He gave her a name and the connection to Sharon. (Though Stan Lee laid the groundwork) So I hope he's getting some credit already.

Cool, I didn't know that.

Here's the Marvel Database entry for Area 51

Area 51 is a secret US military base used by the Gamma Corps and owned by Tony Stark, who used it to hide the Reality Gem.
There was also held captive the In-Betweener, fred by Miss America on Barnell Bohusk's and Angel Salvadore's intel, and the two of them were targeted in the desert next by Braak'nhüd.
]

There isn't really much for Roswell there. It just says it was a hotspot of UFO activity in the 1940s.

Maybe they'll decide it was originally created by Howard Stark in the MCU.

I can definitely see there being potential for Area 51 having significance. Ignoring for a second any direct alien connections, the real Area 51 was all about testing top secret experimental aircraft. Not sure if any of it came out of Operation Paperclip or if that was all out of White Sands, but for the MCU's purposes, it's as logical a place as any for the US Military to mess around with all that captured Hydra technology before SHIELD took custody of it.

For the modern era I can see it either being a SHIELD base (the Slingshot facility maybe?) or still very much a US military base, possibly even something to do with General Ross. I doubt he's been idle since the incident in Harlem.

As for Roswell, I suspect they might use that as just a gag like the crack about SHIELD having already "fixed" the Bermuda Triangle. It could be like the running joke about leprechauns in 'Buffy' & 'Angel'.

 

[Christopher]

Here's the Marvel Database entry for Area 51

Area 51 is a secret US military base used by the Gamma Corps and owned by Tony Stark, who used it to hide the Reality Gem.
There was also held captive the In-Betweener, fred by Miss America on Barnell Bohusk's and Angel Salvadore's intel, and the two of them were targeted in the desert next by Braak'nhüd.
]

How can a civilian businessman own a secret US military base? He could be contracted to build it, but surely the owner would be the US government.

 

[Marsden]

I think it would be interesting if the SSR had something to do with Project Mogul, and it's bizarre cover story. Roswell wasn't even a "thing" until around 1979 1980 and that horse was beaten to death and then some, but I would still like anything that shows that it's all made up, because it is.

I find it fascinating that when trying to cover up the balloon crash they thought it was better to just say it's "aliens" like that wouldn't attract some attention rather than divert it. Of course it did die down after they changed their story. They couldn't admit that they were trying to monitor possible Soviet atomic bomb testing in 1947 so they had to pretend it was something else. Often times, history is more interesting than the "story" but I know people like Stone and Bey would disagree.

 

[JD]

I've never heard about Project Mogul before. I didn't realize the Roswell balloon was more than just a weather balloon.

 

[Christopher]

I find it fascinating that when trying to cover up the balloon crash they thought it was better to just say it's "aliens" like that wouldn't attract some attention rather than divert it.

That's not really what happened, though. The Roswell "incident" happened just a couple of weeks after pilot Kenneth Arnold's widely reported sighting of "flying disks." There was a national hysteria about it, and everyone was reporting seeing "flying disks" or "flying saucers," with Roswell being just one instance. But at the time, the term "flying disk/saucer" had not yet taken on the connotation of "alien spaceship." It just meant "strange round thing in the sky." So when the folks at Roswell Army Air Field said "We've recovered debris from the flying saucer," they were not saying "We recovered debris from the alien spaceship." They were just saying "We've recovered debris from the strange round thing in the sky" and were implying nothing beyond that. There was no coverup, no false claim of alien origin, because "flying saucer" hadn't yet become synonymous with "alien spaceship." It was only in subsequent months and years that the idea of flying saucers being of extraterrestrial origin became routine.

Which is why, when a UFO researcher in the late '70s came upon an article about this old, forgotten, trivial incident in Roswell and saw the Army Air Field spokesperson calling the crashed object a "flying saucer" (or "disk") and then calling it a weather balloon a day later, she jumped to the anachronistic conclusion that he'd been calling it an alien spaceship and then changed his story. And from that simple misunderstanding came decades' worth of paranoid conspiracy theories about government cover-ups.

 

[Reverend]

I think it would be interesting if the SSR had something to do with Project Mogul, and it's bizarre cover story. Roswell wasn't even a "thing" until around 1979 1980 and that horse was beaten to death and then some, but I would still like anything that shows that it's all made up, because it is.

I find it fascinating that when trying to cover up the balloon crash they thought it was better to just say it's "aliens" like that wouldn't attract some attention rather than divert it. Of course it did die down after they changed their story. They couldn't admit that they were trying to monitor possible Soviet atomic bomb testing in 1947 so they had to pretend it was something else. Often times, history is more interesting than the "story" but I know people like Stone and Bey would disagree.

I'm sure there's a lot of early cold war shenannigans as well as UFO/paranormal lore from that era that they could draw on. They've already tied SHIELD and Hydra into Operation Paperclip and as you say, Mogul has some possibilities. Other possibilities are Kenneth Arnold witnessing the test flight for some of Stark's prototype Quinjets. Project Sign and Blue Book being SHIELD smoke screens for Soviet operated Hydra technology and the Philadelphia Experiment has "Stark and Tesla collaboration" written all over it. Yeah, I know Tesla died like eight or nine months prior....OR DID HE!?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Do we know how long they had GH on ice? Maybe he was one of the bodies found in the Roswell incident.

 

[Turtletrekker]

We were told that the body pre-dated the pyramids.