SDCC ’15: Agent Carter showrunners reveal Season 2’s villains

We’ll have more to say about the big “Marvel Television Presents” Press room that ended just a few moments ago a little later on, but one big detail that we can share right away comes from Agent Carter showrunners Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas who were able to share just a few tid-bits about the Season 2 antagonists that will be opposing Peggy and Jarvis when they come to L.A.:

Fazekas: The antagonists, I would say, exist in the Marvel comics, a version of them. And there’s even a group called the Secret Empire. And I can also tell you, and this is somewhat of a spoiler, there’s a thing called Darkforce, that comes from the comic book universe, which also created Blackout on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and it comes out of the Doctor Strange universe as well. That’s going to show up, causing problems for people.

Fazekas is surely being a bit vague in order to keep things under wraps, but The Secret Empire would indeed be a logical choice of villain for this upcoming season. In the comics, this organization began as a subsidiary of HYDRA and have always been led by a mysterious (and changing) leader, simply known as “Number One”. They later reformed as major antagonists for Captain America, with an implication that their leader was actually the President of the United States. They’ve existed in the background of the Marvel universe ever since, making a recent appearance in Mark Waid‘s seminal Daredevil run.

The fact that Agent Carter will also be potentially tapping into the Doctor Strange mythos most likely underscores the importance of the upcoming Scott Derrickson-directed feature film.