Jessica Jones Fan Theories

Fans met the death of Kilgrave at the end of Season 1 of Jessica Jones with mixed emotions. While Kilgrave was a horrific villain who certainly deserved to die, he was also one of the most entertaining antagonists in the MCU, and fans were sad to see him leave. This has led to nonstop speculation about the ways how Kilgrave might return, including a theory by NeonGameWave on the ComicVine forums.

NeonGameWave’s theory is multi-pronged and includes a number of ways the Purple Man might return. According to this fan, Kilgrave could heal, be mentally projected, and any other number of more convoluted returns. By far the most plausible is that Kilgrave never died, he simply used his abilities to tell Jessica to believe she had killed him. 

Some nitpicking fans have taken issue with the fact that Jessica Jones’s powers seem to be a bit inconsistent in their portrayal on-screen. Jessica’s strength and ability levels seem to fluctuate at times. According to Reddit user itallmakescentsnow, this is explained as a symptom of the PTSD that Jones no doubt received from her time under the thrall of Kilgrave. After all, there’s plenty of precedent for PTSD screwing with a hero’s powers - it was even a central plot line in Spider-Man 2.

Or, as a commenter in the original thread suggests, it could come down to how much alcohol Jessica has in her system at any one time.

Of the many villains to grace the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many consider Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave to be the evilest, but Reddit user robertraur thinks that might not be Kilgrave’s fault. In their theory, they explain that Kilgrave’s mind-control powers are a type of virus that he transmits to his victims. Real-world viruses can sometimes manipulate their hosts in order to spread farther. Perhaps the virus that gives Kilgrave his powers also subconsciously influences him to use his powers ever more frequently on people in a way he can't control.

Since she first appeared on the show, fans of Trish Walker have waited for her to take one her comic book persona, Hellcat, in Jessica Jones. As a character, Hellcat has been around for a lot longer than Jessica Jones, and several people, like Bryan Kersey at The Marvel Report, think that Season 2 will finally see Trish in her crime-fighting costume. With Walker’s brief flirtation with superpowers in Season 1, not to mention her desire to protect her best friend, the pieces are certainly in place for Hellcat to get her claws out.

In the comic books, Jessica Jones eventually gained immunity from the influence of the Purple Man due to psychic implants given to her by Jean Grey of the X-Men. Reddit user joalr0 speculates that the immunity that Jessica developed in the Netflix series may also have psychic origins, specifically involving the ill-fated lover of Luke Cage, Reva Connors. As joalr0 explains:

“They acknowledge in the show that other children were experimented on, but Killgrave never tracked them down. Reva might have been one of those children, and also gained abilities to get inside the minds of others.

I suspect Reva, for one reason or another, wasn't powerful enough to defend herself from Killgrave, but was able to, in her final moment, place protection in Jessica's mind. This also explains why they were never able to create an antidote from her blood. It wasn't her blood, but her mind that was protected.”

Will Simpson, the would-be-lover-turned-antagonist of Trish Walker, was based on the Marvel comic book character Nuke. Named Frank Simpson in the comics, Nuke was a creation of the Weapon Plus program that created Captain America and Wolverine, but he didn't turn out quite so heroic. Comic-book Nuke is a killing machine with all sorts of cybernetic enhancements, and he augments his murderous drive with the use of pills.

Audiences have seen Will Simpson use power-augmenting pills, but writer Carter Matt theorizes that we’ll get to see Simpson go “full Nuke” in Season 2 of Jessica Jones, making him a very legitimate threat for the titular hero.