Boardwalk Empire’s Shea Whigham to co-star on ABC’s Agent Carter

ABC’s next Marvel series, AGENT CARTER, has found it’s male lead in the form of veteran actor Shea Whigham. Best known for his role as Eli Thompson on HBO’s BOARDWALK EMPIRE, Whigham boasts a pretty impressive resume with roles in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, AMERICAN HUSTLE, NON-STOP, and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. With BOARDWALK EMPIRE coming to a close, Whigham was looking for another project and AGENT CARTER fit the bill, giving him another role in law enforcement.

Whigham will play tough but fair-minded SSR Chief Roger Dooley, Peggy Carter‘s commanding officer. He will also oversee the already cast agents Thompson and Sousa, played by Chad Michael Murray and Enver Gjokaj. No other casting has been announced yet. With the roles so far all being male, it does make sense that the series will follow a similar plot to the Marvel One-Shot of the same title that followed Peggy Carter after the disappearance of Steve Rogers as she traverses the male-dominated world of espionage.

The first season of AGENT CARTER is set to premiere in January 2015 during the AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. hiatus. Marvel’s Louis D’Esposito will direct the pilot, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER directors Joe and Anthony Russo will direct episodes two and three, and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER director Joe Johnston may direct episode four. If the tone of the one-shot is kept intact, this could make for a very unique network series. Here’s hoping it works.