As revealed by Variety, actor James D’Arcy (“Master and Commander”, “Cloud Atlas”) has been cast as the butler to the Avengers from the comics, Edwin Jarvis, in the upcoming Hayley Atwell starring “Agent Carter” show. The main difference between this and the comics is, as we know, J.A.R.V.I.S. is a computer program in the movies already, helping Tony Stark do Iron Man things in all of his appearances so far. This Edwin Jarvis will instead be the butler to Tony’s father, Howard, and he’ll find himself allied with Agent Carter in the process.
This falls in line with at least the origins of Jarvis, who started as the butler for Howard and Maria Stark before he became Tony’s, and in the comics, he had a background as a member of the RAF (the British Royal Air Force) and as a championship boxer. Historically, the character could hold his own and then some.
I think D’Arcy’s a tremendous actor, personally, as his work as Pullings in “Master and Commander” and Rufus Sixsmith in “Cloud Atlas” (particularly the latter) was excellent, and highlights a skill set that can add a lot of weight to a role that doesn’t get a lot of development. It’s a nice casting move, and certainly more exciting than when we last heard of Chad Michael Murray being brought in.
“Agent Carter” will be a midseason replacement on ABC, so look for it probably in January.
