Marvel’s ‘AKA Jessica Jones’ Casts David Tennant as the Villainous “Purple Man”
Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ has yet to release a frame of footage from its forthcoming Netflix TV series, but that hasn’t stopped followup series ‘AKA Jessica Jones’ from pushing forward. Not only do we know ‘Who’ the major villain of the Krysten Ritter super-detective drama will be, but David Tennant himself will portray the mysterious purple baddie.
Per Netflix, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Broadchurch’ star Tennant will take the role of Zebediah Killgrave, better known as Marvel baddie “Purple Man.” The character has been written as a foe to Daredevil, Jones and her comic husband Luke Cage (portrayed in the upcoming series by Mike Colter), while Netflix’s version an enigmatic figure from Jones’ past said to send “shockwaves” through the universe of the former superhero, now private detective.
In the books at least, Killgrave’s mind-control powers provided the catalyst for Jones to leave the superhero lifestyle behind, after the villain brainwashed Jessica and forced her to live with him for months, eventually sending her up against The Avengers. The subsequent defeat nearly killed her, after which X-woman Jean Grey provides Jones with psychic resistance against the villain. Naturally, we’d expect a few adjustments in Netflix’s version.
For those unfamiliar with the new series, ‘Jessica Jones’ emerged in ‘Alias’ comics as a superhero suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, leading her to hang up the costume and opening a detective agency, wherein she helps both super and human clients. The character has also frequently been seen to share a romantic relationship with Cage, who himself will appear in 6-7 episodes before headlining the fourth and final ‘Defenders’ lead-in series.
For the moment at least, ‘Jessica Jones’ has only writer and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg locked in beyond the cast, with no word yet on any ‘Iron Fist’ casting choices. We’ve barely scratched the ‘Defenders’ surface as Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ hits the streets on April 10, but what say you? Are you intrigued to see what havoc David Tennant raises as ‘AKA Jessica Jones’ Purple Man?