Back in May, nearly 99 percent of all TV shows were wiped out of existence by a cancellation wave, with one of the victims being ABC’s Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in spin-off Agent Carter. After Yahoo saved Community and Netflix saved Arrested Development, though, people held out hope that some streaming service (preferably not Yahoo) would swoop in and save Peggy Carter and her show from an untimely end. Sadly, such a rescue never came to pass, and even Peggy’s old flame Steve Rogers decided to move on.
Today, while speaking at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos explained why he didn’t pick up Agent Carter. As predictable and boring as it is, it all came down to business. He says that Netflix is “looking for truly original brands to own,” and since it already has a bunch of Marvel shows, it didn’t make sense to take on somebody else’s. On top of that, Netflix tries to control the worldwide distribution rights for all of its shows, but because of “Marvel’s existing international deals” with Agent Carter, any sort of new deal would’ve had “complexities.” He then notes that it was “a business decision more than a creative one.”
Somehow, that explanation makes it an even less dignified end for one of the MCU’s best characters.