Agent Carter has a lot going for it — it's exciting without being moody, hilarious without being cold, and let's face it, Peggy Carter is pretty much everything. The ABC series, which returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, is the perfect mix of period piece fun and Marvel intrigue. On the latter note, there's one cameo (not Chris Evans, because Steve is still a Capsicle in the timeline) that would make Captain America fans squee; could we see Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes on Agent Carter Season 2? It would be a great lead-in to Civil War, I'm just saying.
It's not a crazy thought. The seeds have been planted for Bucky in this universe. In the cliffhanger/post-credits sequence for Agent Carter, a character with some sinister hypnotizing skills named Johann Fennhoff found himself locked up with Arnim Zola. If you remember from the film The Winter Solider, Zola is one of the scientists who experimented on Bucky Barnes and turned him into the brainwashed, metal-armed mess that he is today. Does that mean we might actually see his "creation," or some of his early exploits as the Winter Solider? Here's the scene, and beginning of a beautiful friendship, below.
Look, I know that Stan has probably been busy filming small projects like Captain America: Civil War or whatever, I get it — however, it's not like he had to fill out new I-9 forms or anything. He's already under Disney's employ, because this is all part of the same universe. Plus, he has major roots in television, having appeared on shows like Kings, Once Upon A Time, Gossip Girl, and Political Animals in the past. I would hope that, if the story called for it, they could justify a cameo from the former Howling Commando.
That said, the fact that the series left New York City and has set Season 2 in California leads me to believe that they are putting most of the events of Season 1 behind them. The strongest pro-Bucky evidence is the return of Dottie Underwood, a Russian operative from what will become the Black Widow program. The then Soviet Union is where Bucky was taken, and in the comics he is heavily tied to the Black Widow program, just like Dottie.
Still, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Just like we never saw Steve Rogers in Season 1, I doubt that Bucky will actually appear in Season 2, as much as I would love it. This show has to be its own thing. Personally, I enjoy how Agent Carter uses its characters to mirror other relationships in the MCU without actually using the movie's characters. While a Stan cameo would be satisfying (and at the same time very, very depressing) for fans of the character, it probably wouldn't add much to Peggy's journey. Bucky's off in his own world, and as the Civil War trailers show us, it's his future that counts more than his past.
Image: Disney
