After years of male lead superhero films, Marvel’s Agent Carter showcases their first stand-alone, female heroine in an explosion of mystery and action-packed punches.

Marvel first introduced us to Peggy Carter, played by Hayley Atwell, in Captain America: the First Avenger as the brave, no-nonsense Strategic Scientific Reserve agent we all came to love. In her new series, Agent Carter, Peggy’s life has changed drastically. The war has ended. Men have reentered the workforce, sending independent female workers back to waitressing and filing. Peggy’s life seems doomed to fall into this pattern when Howard Stark contacts her in a alleyway. Stark’s dangerous weapons have fallen into the wrong hands, and now, with the help of Edwin Jarvis, Peggy must find and dispose of these weapons while maintaining her job at S.S.R.

Peggy Carter holds a special place in my heart, so when this show premiered on January 6, I prepared myself for disappointment. Hayley Atwell won me over in the Captain America movies, but how would she fare in a solo gig? 30 seconds into the show, those worries dissipated.

The writer and producers of Agent Carter perfectly set up the basis of the show within the first ten minutes. The show begins with the last time viewers saw Peggy Carter at this age: when Captain America “died” by crashing the plane into the ocean. From there, we watch her travel to her job at the phone company (S.S.R cover job) where we expect to see her solving the great mysteries of 1946. Instead, we find Peggy being treated as a secretary in a time filled with sexism.

The show’s writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, could have completely dismissed the era’s sexism entirely, but instead accurately depicted how society treated women after WWII ended. For a show mostly based in fictional events, staying true to the time period helps Peggy’s world feel believable.

The show’s believability is only helped by the show’s cast. Peggy Carter retains the same bravery and attitude from the Captain America movies. Agent Carter could not work, however, without her co-stars. Each new character brings something different to the table in how they approach problems of the time. Without her co-stars, critical conflicts in the plot vanish.

Marvel’s one mistake in Agent Carter revolves around the show’s premise itself. Many fans assumed the show would revolve around Peggy and Howard Stark starting S.H.I.E.L.D together. Even from the trailer released a few months prior to the premiere, viewers failed to receive a clear idea about what story the show would tell. While many Marvel fans expected something different, Agent Carter’s quick wit and thrilling adventures more than make up for this mistake.

The Chant’s grade: A-