Is Stark Working For Leviathan On 'Agent Carter'?

Maybe it's time we start asking the really tough questions about Agent Carter , like what the heck is Howard Stark up to? Listen, I love the Stark family through and through, but it does have its flaws (I mean, we've all seen Iron Man 2, right?). Tony's apple doesn't fall far from Howard's tree; I find myself getting more and more suspicious as to what the elder Stark is doing. What was he cooking up in his basement with his bad babies? Why did he feel the need to flee the country? Why did he turn to Peggy? Better yet what is Howard Stark hiding from Peggy? So many questions, and it looks like slowly they're going to start coming to light.

While we generally want to group Howard in with the "good guys," that honestly might not be his true nature. TVLine talked to Agent Carter EP/Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb who mentioned that when Howard first sought out Peggy, "he was not entirely truthful" about his reasons. So if you've had that sinking feeling that Howard has some big secrets to share, you're right. While we all might have thought Agent Carter was going to be a "Howard Stark's Gadget of the Week" crime procedural, it's not. Everything has been recovered, and is now with the SSR. While this might have been the endgame for any other show, it's only the beginning for Agent Carter.

Might Stark have been working with shady organization Leviathan all along? They stole his stuff. How did they even know he had all of those strange (and dangerous) bad babies to begin with? Is there any way that Leviathan commissioned Stark to actually make these weapons for them? SO MANY QUESTIONS. So few answers. This is why Agent Carter needs a million seasons.

While we know deep down Stark's a good guy, he's also quick to do something for a buck, too. Could Leviathan have offered him a whole lot of money to build these weapons, without Stark realizing that he was building them for evil, and when that secret came out, he stopped? It would make sense as to why Leviathan then stole his products, and why Stark needed them back — he didn't want anyone else to find out that he had been working for the other side.

I also can't help but always think back to Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, where in the end Stark recruits Peggy to work with him. By this time, he's already established S.H.I.E.L.D. when he calls her up. Might these bad babies be used to form S.H.I.E.L.D. initially? Could these weapons be used to leverage Stark's way into S.H.I.E.L.D.? Like, "hey, here are all these recovered weapons, I won't make them again for to the bad guys if you give me government funding." That would be one way to keep the devices out of evil hands. And get Stark exactly what he wants — you know, some money.

The synopsis for Tuesday's episode even suggests that Stark's popped back up for "mysterious reasons." Maybe because what was stolen has now been recovered and he's got to set everything straight before he's brought up on more charges. Stark's been hiding something big from the beginning and now it's time to figure out what.

Images: Matt Kennedy/ABC; Giphy