'Agent Carter': 10 Things You Need to Know About Season 2 (Plus 1 Hilarious Video)

Marvel’s Agent Carter is back – filling in while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still on hiatus – and it’s faster, funnier, and more exciting than ever.

We talked with executive producer Tara Butters and star Hayley Atwell about what’s new, and it’s clear that there’s a sense of relaxation around the set that’s enjoyable to watch. Judging by the video above that features Atwell and co-star James D'Arcy, maybe it’s too relaxed. Here are 10 things you need to know about Season 2.

1. They Still Have Pranks in the ‘40s. Peggy Carter’s relationship with Steve Rogers was a huge part of Captain America, but on Agent Carter, it’s all about Peggy and Jarvis: Platonically, of course. Their prim and proper friendship on screen — Atwell calls it “staunchly British” — is both hilarious and touching. Off-screen, it’s much more the former than the latter. D'Arcy is very un-Jarvis-like in that video as Atwell rats him out for a practical joke he played on her in her trailer.

2. Peggy’s Moved On. The first season dealt a lot with Agent Carter’s struggle to gain acceptance in the work place and letting go of Steve Rogers. “She’s moving on now,” says Butters. “We’re not saying that sexism is dead in 1947,” she adds. But Peggy’s got a little more support from the SSR these days. In L.A., she meets Dr. Wilkes (Reggie Austin), a scientist with dubious motives and a hell of a smile. At the same time, “She realizes she might have had feelings for Agent Sousa and we have a little bit of a love triangle,” Butters says.

3. Why L.A.? For one thing, it’s just so damn sunny. “It absolutely reflects the lightness within Peggy,” Atwell says. For another, there’s the look of Hollywood in the ‘40s. “We felt there were a lot of cool stories we could tell between glamour and grit,” Butters says. Films like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential were already big influences on the show, so it made sense to move it there geographically as well as spiritually.

4. Fewer Visual Effects Means More Special Effects. The other benefit to moving to L.A. is that every time the show went outside in Season 1, they had to work to make the world look like New York in the '40s. “Those were huge visual effects shots,” says Butters. “Now we can shoot exteriors in a lot of places in L.A. that still have that 1940s feel.” What does that mean? “This time we’re able to use the visual effects to put more Marvel in this world,” Butters says. Think zero matter — which is what the show is calling Darkforce — which will tie Agent Carter in with both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Doctor Strange.

Wynn Everett as Whitney Frost

5. The Villain Is Based on a Real Person. Whitney Frost epitomizes that sense of Old Hollywood glamour — she’s a movie star married to a powerful politician. But she’s also a scientific genius, and that will lead to her becoming the villain Madame Masque. It’s a great juxtaposition because, like Peggy, the world vastly underestimates her talents. And while Peggy uses her powers for good, well… There was actually a famous movie star from the '40s — Heddy Lamarr — who was also a great scientist in her own right, and that was who they patterned Frost after. “She invented a thing called frequency hopping,” says Butters. It was used for missile guidance during WWII and is still used today in Bluetooth technology. “She was someone we felt would be a great person to steal from for a character standpoint.”

Lotte Verbeek as Ana Jarvis

6. We Finally Get to See Mrs. Jarvis. “We wanted people to be surprised by her,” Butters says. They had put off showing Ana for so long, they knew they couldn’t just half-ass it. What they ended up going with was someone who is the exact opposite of the button-down tidiness of Mr. Jarvis. Peggy is just as surprised as anyone. When they first meet, Ana offers to lend her some clothes. Peggy is unimpressed by the ladylike garments until Ana shows her the secret holster for stashing her gun. “Her and Peggy have such great energy,” Butters says. “You buy that they would immediately become friends.”

7. Angie’s Still Peggy’s BFF, Though. The producers remain tight-lipped about a possible appearance by Lyndsy Fonseca, so there’s still hope we may get to see her in Season 2. And even though Peggy and Ana are now thick as thieves, she’ll never forget Angie. “She showed up for her and saved her at a time when she really needed it, when she’s out on the ledge,” Atwell says. “That shows extraordinary integrity and compassion.” It’s also the first time Peggy felt like she could have a real friend without fearing for their safety (like what happened with her first roommate, Colleen). “I think, ultimately, her friendship goes a lot deeper with Angie.”

Bridget Regan as Dottie Underwood

8. Dottie’s Back. From deep friendship to deep rivalry, the first shot of Season 2 is Agent Carter’s iconic red hat, but it’s being worn by her nemesis, Russian superspy Dorothy Underwood. “Dottie is not only a fan favorite, she’s a favorite of ours,” says Butters. At first, they just wanted to give some kind of closure for her character from last year, but her role grew. “Basically, she will become entwined into this case that happens throughout the season,” Butters says.

9. Atwell Loves Hollywood; Peggy Finds it Absurd. “I started off falling in love with the greats: Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis — the Golden Age of Hollywood,” Atwell says. She’s fascinated by the elegance and “dark glamour” and a time when “people were becoming famous because they were exceptional at what they did, not because they gossiped about themselves and had their own reality TV shows.” As for her character, though, “She’s bemused and tickled at the differences that she discovers in New York and, even more so, the absurdity she finds in Hollywood,” she says. “Which is why she’s not in awe of it and she’s not reduced or intimidated by it.”

10. When Will We See Agent Carter Next? Since we know that Peggy survives until the modern day, that means that they could literally drop her into any event that’s happened in the last 70 years. Where would Atwell like to see her? “I definitely think she would have had an active role in the civil rights movement,” she says firmly. “Also, of course, women’s rights a little bit later on. The invention of the pill and of the swinging ‘60s.” She doesn’t necessarily think Peggy would have gone the “hippie route,” but she believes Peggy’s rebellious nature would have fit right into that time.

11. Who Does Atwell Want to Be Her Next Co-Star? Most Americans will only ever encounter British stage actors in the Harry Potter movies, but if Atwell had her way, they’d be all over Agent Carter. When asked who she thinks would be a good fit for the show, she reels off an impressive list of names — most of whom are virtual unknowns in the U.S., but who are tremendously influential to Atwell. She mentions Rory Kinnear, Ben Whishaw, and Adrian Scarborough — but most of her love is reserved for the women. Fiona Shaw, Helen McCrory, Juliet Stevenson, Anne-Marie Duff, Anna Maxwell Martin, Sophie Okonedo, Jessica Oyelowo, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Manville, Susan Engel… All names worth searching out even if they never do set foot on a Marvel set.

Marvel’s Agent Carter airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.