Marvel’s Agent Carter: 10 Things We Learned About Jarvis Before He Became Vision

Tony Stark’s artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Very Intelligent System) is more than just his personal butler. JARVIS was, in fact, based on his father, Howard Stark’s, real-life butler Edwin Jarvis. Jarvis was tasked with helping Peggy Carter clear Howard Stark’s name in the television series Agent Carter. “When you’re not humiliating him, that fellow up there is my butler, Edwin Jarvis. He’ll help you any way he can.”

The actor of Jarvis in Marvel’s Agent Carter was James D’Arcy instead of Paul Bettany (Vision in the MCU). He also made a short appearance in Avengers: Endgame, being the first Marvel actor from the television side of things to make the jump to the cinematic universe. But even if audiences have become familiar with both Jarvis and Vision, there’s little about his pre-AI life that people know. Here are 10 things about Jarvis’ pre-Vision life that everyone needs to know.

10 He Had A Wife

Jarvis’s wife was introduced in person during the second season of Agent Carter, although she was mentioned by Jarvis throughout the first season. Ana Jarvis wasn’t who Peggy was expecting, not to be confused with Jarvis in a girdle.

She is light-hearted, colorful, and free-spirited. She knows how to party, embarrasses her husband, makes Peggy a garter which is also a holster, and can make a mean Hungarian feast.

9 He Knew Martial Arts

After the events in New York during season 1, Jarvis decided to begin a regimented physical fitness routine as well as training in the deadly arts.

Fencing is a hobby while his combat training focuses mainly on boxing and judo. He even attempts to spar with Peggy, who flips him with a move she learned from her brother before Jarvis pins her with his patented Tortoise of Fury.

8 He Committed Treason

Jarvis might look like a subservient person, but he’s a fighter. In the Season 1 episode “Time and Tide,” Jarvis was shown to have a hidden past. Jarvis revealed everything to Peggy to gain her trust.”Before the war, I served under a general. We traveled a great deal. We were in Budapest when I met Ana. She worked in a hotel tailor shop, sold me the most beautiful tie. And then the war broke out and things became… difficult.” She was Jewish, “Still is, I’m happy to say. The general carried several letters of transit in his safe, any one of which would have ensured her safety. But he refused to sign.”

So Jarvis forged the general’s name and was given a dishonorable discharge. He was arrested while filing the papers, but Howard saved their lives by using his influence.

7 He Knew How To Use A Tranquilizer Rifle

Unfortunately for Jarvis, Howard Stark’s interest in exotic animals has him attempting to collect them. One particular nuisance to Jarvis is the flamingo, Bernard, who refuses to be wrangled. When Peggy needs to take down Rufus Hunt, an assassin who attempted to kill her and escaped, Jarvis suggests a tranquilizer rifle.

Peggy says she’s never used one before and asks Jarvis what occasion gave him experience with one. “The koala. Its adorable appearance belies a vile temperament.”

6 He Was Quite The Character

Jarvis has a recreation tie which he wears when he knows things are going to become active. He’s a delightful baker and cook. He can put on a poor American accent whenever needed, like making an anonymous phone call or pretending to be the authorities.

He’s extremely proud of himself for hitting a person with a lunch tray. His range of facial expressions provide comic relief, and his anguish is tear-inducing to viewers.

5 He Was Hilarious & Sassy

Jarvis provided much of the comic relief on the series, although each character had their moments, Jarvis was exceptionally entertaining. But what made his various comments satisfying was Peggy’s reaction to them.

He provided the sass, but she could give it right back. He asked questions, had bravado, was sarcastic, and in touch with his emotions. Jarvis also had funny interactions with Howard Stark, proving that he wasn’t only a butler, but a friend. He was used to Howard’s antics.

4 He Didn’t Want To Be An A.I.

During Season 2, Howard’s estate in Los Angeles, where Carter is staying and the team makes most of its plans, is compromised. Howard’s idea? A voice-over security system.  Jarvis’s voice blares out from the walls, “You are unauthorized to access this area,” and Peggy replies in her usual bantering manner “terrifying.”

Jarvis’s response is unfortunate if he only knew what awaited him. “It’s a temporary measure. I have no desire to spend the rest of time as a disembodied voice.”

3 He Learned Of Consequence

“Miss Carter, since our last adventure, my life has consisted of oiling floorboards, cleaning pools, and transporting exotic livestock. I’m profoundly and exhaustively bored.” But this became a topic of argument between himself and Peggy.

“You have begged me to bring you on my adventures since I arrived in Los Angeles. And that’s what they are to you, larks, an enjoyable way to spend the evening. And then you go home to another man’s mansion, listening to your radio shows, blissful in your self imposed ignorance. And when there is a consequence, a horrid, ugly consequence you blame me for the choices you have made.”

2 He Can’t Have Children

The main antagonist in Season 2 is Whitney Frost, a genius obsessed with Dark Matter. To buy herself some time escaping Carter while in the middle of a kidnapping, she shoots Ana. Ana was a bystander and Jarvis was riddled with guilt and anger. The likelihood of Ana waking up was slim, so Jarvis promised a host of wonderful things he would love to do with and for Ana when she comes back to him.

Thankfully, Ana wakes up and says what she always says, sweet and adoringly: “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”  But there was a casualty. There were complications which meant the couple could never have a family. It was one of the most tragic scenes of the second season.

1 He Was Peggy’s Friend & Sidekick

Jarvis provided Peggy with emotional support, difficult decisions concerning her work, relationship advice, and mission backup. He was there for her when Howard Stark wasn’t. He handled a bomb, which was nothing like taking a souffle out of the oven, hit a criminal with his car, was slapped by most of Howard’s ex-lovers so Peggy could examine their wrists without suspicion, told her hard truths, and knew morse code despite Peggy’s surprise.

In his unforgettable words, “But should you again find yourself in need of my services, I would be honored to assist you at a moment’s notice, Miss Carter.”

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