Marvel introduced one of its most terrifying villains ever into live-action ten years ago in Jessica Jones season 1, which premiered on Netflix on November 20, 2015. While Marvel Studios’ feature films were exploring grand cosmic and global adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Netflix’s Defenders Saga focused on small-scale vignettes on the gritty streets of New York City. Matt Murdock’s Daredevil, Luke Cage, Danny Rand’s Iron Fist, and Frank Castle’s Punisher all faced formidable foes, but it was Jessica Jones who went toe-to-toe with one of Marvel’s most nightmarish supervillains.
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Daredevil season 1 kicked off the franchise in April 2015 before Jessica Jones season 1 expanded the story on November 20, 2015. Season 1 picked up with the titular Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) some time after she escaped from the mother of all toxic relationships, the impact of which pushed her to become a private investigator, using her abilities of superhuman strength, enhanced jumping, and a rock-hard liver to help others. Unfortunately, Jones soon found herself coming face-to-face with her abuser again, who just so happens to be one of Marvel’s most horrific characters.
David Tennant’s Terrifying Kilgrave Debuted in Jessica Jones Season 1
Best known for playing the Tenth Doctor in long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who, David Tennant joined Marvel in 2015 to portray Kevin “Kilgrave” Thompson. Kilgrave, because of his parents’ experiments on him as a child, emits a virus that causes subjugation and obedience in anyone in his vicinity, effectively enabling him to take control of anyone’s mind. While he could use this for good, he is filled with so much hatred and his mind is so twisted that he is incapable of heroism, and instead uses his power to fuel his hedonism, ego, and torture those who wrong him.
Kilgrave took control of Jessica Jones after seeing her strength, noticing how beneficial controlling someone with her gifts would be. He forced her to act as his lover — in every horrible sense of the word — for months before he got her to kill Reva Connors (Parisa Fitz-Henley), Luke Cage’s (Mike Colter) wife. This brutal act somehow broke the connection between Kilgrave and Jones, and subsequently made her immune from his virus, while eventually allowed her to battle him one-on-one and kill him in Jessica Jones season 1’s finale, “AKA Smile.”
Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave was very different from his Marvel Comics counterpart, Zebediah Kilgrave’s Purple Man, who first appeared in 1964’s Daredevil #4. While the production of a pheromone that allows him to verbally control others is the same in both iterations, his backstory in live-action was far more tragic and humanized him. Marvel Comics’ Purple Man has fought Daredevil, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, and more over the years, but his time with Jessica Jones is still his most notable chapter. Despite his corrupted mind, he’s an incredibly fascinating villain, so it’s a shame he’s no longer in the MCU.
Kilgrave Could Still Return in the MCU’s Future Despite His Defenders Saga Death
While we were happy to see the back of Kilgrave after his death in Jessica Jones season 1, no villain after him managed to live up to his impact. Tennant delivered a remarkable performance as the irredeemable but captivating, charismatic, and thought-provoking supervillain, so we are desperate to see him rejoin the MCU, despite his demise. In early 2024, the Defenders Saga was integrated into the MCU’s official timeline, which allowed the likes of Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Jon Bernthal, and more to reprise their roles, so Tennant could return, too.
Krysten Ritter will be returning as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, and has been teased to be headlining her own show in the MCU’s future. Given the fact that Kilgrave is now knocking round in her mind as a hallucinatory vision — we saw this in Jessica Jones season 2 and heard his voice in season 3 — Ritter’s return to the MCU could bring Tennant’s Kilgrave back, too. Additionally, since Marvel Studios has altered some elements of the Defenders Saga’s history when integrating it into the MCU, Kilgrave’s death could be reversed, which would be game-changing for Jones.
The MCU is also barreling towards a “reset” after Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, which will provide an opportunity for long-dead characters to return. While Tony Stark’s Iron Man and Steve Rogers’ Captain America have been teased to be returning, we’d love to see Kilgrave back in the MCU, too. There are many avenues Marvel Studios could take to bring Kilgrave back to life, and, given his prominence as a street-level villain in Marvel Comics and in the developing story of Jessica Jones, we hope this comes to fruition.
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