Going into Avengers: Endgame, fans were keeping their fingers crossed that the film would finally break down the barrier between Marvel’s movies and their TV shows. Maybe present-day Phil Coulson would turn up and tell the Avengers he’s still alive? Maybe Daredevil and the Defenders would lend a hand against Thanos? As it turned out, a Marvel TV character did appear in Endgame – but it wasn’t who we were expecting.
James D’Arcy showed up in a brief cameo in the 1970s scenes, reprising his role as Howard Stark’s butler Edwin Jarvis from Agent Carter. This makes him the only character created for the MCU’s TV series to crossover to the films. But why did Jarvis have this honor above everyone else?
The Russos took part in an AMA on Wednesday evening and were asked the question. Joe Russo explained that there were a few reasons, chief among them being that the filmmakers are big fans of D’Arcy and because they all have connections to Agent Carter.
“Because we love James. Also, because Markus and McFeely were instrumental in engineering that show, and because I directed one of the episodes. It seemed appropriate.”
While Jarvis being the only MCU TV character to make the hop over to the movies seems unlikely at first, Russos’s comments make a lot of sense. Endgame writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus penned the first episodes of AC‘s first season, thereby creating the MCU Jarvis in the first place. Plus, Joe Russo helmed episode 2. So, they were always going to bring someone over who they had a personal connection to, rather than from a show they had nothing to do with.
Bringing Jarvis back in Avengers: Endgame – as well as Hayley Atwell’s extended cameo as Peggy – also served as a nod to the series that was sadly cancelled after just two seasons back in 2016. Although, it turns out it won’t be the last time the Agent Carter crew are brought back in the MCU. It’s been reported that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 7 will feature Atwell and other members of the cast. Unfortunately, though, there’s no news on whether D’Arcy will be amongst them yet.