With SDCC just around the corner Hayley Atwell – AKA Agent Peggy Carter – has been doing the rounds to help promote her upcoming Comic-Con appearance and also to hype the UK airing of Agent Carter Season 1 on FOX this Sunday.

During an exclusive interview with Den Of Geek, Atwell spoke about the importance of female superheroes and how she sees Peggy Carter as a positive role model for young girls.

“I think it’s great. I think it’s part of a new phase for the female superhero. I think the audiences want them, and Marvel are responding to that, and there’s some great characters in there. And there’s so many of them, too, that you can just keep on going. It’s endless. There’s such great talent as well, out there. That’s what Marvel’s so good at – casting it right. It’s been great to meet people at conventions who see Peggy as a feminist icon for them, and they get to quote lines from the season like ‘I know my value, anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.’ That’s been nice, to really enjoy what I do, but then to have a positive side-effect on young people. It’s quite humbling. It’s a real bonus.”

Atwell also spoke about the popularity of Peggy Carter and said that doing the show was “a no-brainer”:

“She’s relatable, she’s warm, she’s funny… Sounds like a girl I want to hang out with…I had no expectation. In fact, when I was walking down the red carpet at the first premiere, I was about to get on a plane to go and do a play back in the West End…So that has been a really nice surprise, that just, over time, she’s grown…”

SEE ALSO: SDCC poster for Season 2 of Marvel’s Agent Carter

Agent Carter Season 2 will air during the midseason break of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, with Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), James D’Arcy (Edwin Jarvis) and Enver Gjokaj (Agent Daniel Sousa) confirmed as returning and Chad Michael Murray (Agent Jack Thompson), Bridget Regan (Dottie Underwood) and Lyndsy Fonseca (Angie Martinelli) all expected to reprise their roles.

Gavin Logan