This year, Marvel Studios made about as much noise for not making the trek to Comic-Con as they might have by going. Instead, Disney (who, of course, owns Marvel) will rely on Star Wars to be the buzz builder, and focus their powers on the forthcoming D-23 Expo, looming on the horizon in August.

But, Marvel Studios, of course, isn’t entirely absent this year, thanks to Friday’s “Marvel Television Presents” panel in Ballroom 20.

Ballooning out of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel and ABC also have Agent Carter (returning for a second season in the winter), a mysterious John Ridley produced show, and enough rumors to fill an entire network’s primetime schedule. In addition, Marvel and Netflix unveiled the first of their many partnerships with the critically acclaimed Daredevil, with Jessica Jones on deck later this year (with Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the team-up show The Defenders following).

In short, Marvel’s presence on TV expands by the moment, but today’s panel focuses on the partnership between ABC and Marvel that has birthed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. The afternoon’s festivities were hosted by Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television, who took the stage alongside Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy and showrunners Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas and Chris Dingess to discuss Agent Carter.

For Marvel, the panel acts as a “thank you to everyone that’s here,” Loeb said. “We could not do this without all of you.”

After a recap of the events from the first season in the form of a Comic-Con exclusive sizzle reel, Loeb and company discussed D’Arcy’s wariness about taking on the role of Jarvis (he can’t make a perfect souffle), Atwell’s love of the role that changed her life and the genesis of the first season.

Eventually, discussion turned to season 2, which will move the action to Hollywood, and adopt the gritty, LA 1940s noir when Peggy is called in to investigate a murder. Purposefully evoking the events of the Black Dahlia murder, Peggy and Jarvis will team up for not just eight episodes like in season 1, but for 10 episodes for season 2.

While they have no immediate plans to bring in historical figures (“until just now,” D’Arcy quips), the writers are excited to take on some of the iconic locales in 1940s Hollywood.

Next, several more chairs were added to the table, and the cast for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. took on the baton, with Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood, Henry Simmons, Adrianne Palicki and Luke Mitchell joining the Marvel party.

As with Agent Carter, Marvel presented us with an exclusive recap video of the second season, promising that “everything will change” when the show reloads for season 3.

After introductions, Loeb unveiled a Marvel tradition for AOS, the next edition of “Bloopers of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” a delightful collection of outtakes plucked from the forthcoming season 2 DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital Download, coming September 18.

The rest of the panel focused on playing with the rabid audience on what they can tell us (and not tell us) about season 3. In a clever pretaped segment, the audience got to see Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, co-showrunners, throwing around ideas for the show, literally out of ideas and throwing darts on a dartboard to determine who will die this year. In it, we learn that Skye will forever be known as Daisy Johnson now, and is getting a codename, Quake, for her new team, called the Secret Warriors, who will be flying in a new plane called the Zephyr-1.

Before it all ended, Loeb had fun with the season finale’s cliffhanger (is Simmons dead?), and announced the arrival of an Inhuman character named Lash. Right now (and always), Marvel is cagey with their properties, but we can expect more as we draw closer to Tuesday September 29 on ABC at 9/8c.

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