David Tennant Goes Purple for A.K.A. Jessica Jones

Entertainment Weekly has announced:

A Time Lord is coming to the Marvel universe. The studio has cast David Tennant as the major villain in its upcoming Netflix series A.K.A. Jessica Jones. The Doctor Who and Gracepoint star will play Zebediah Killgrave (aka The Purple Man).

The official series description: “After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23) is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City. An enigmatic figure from Jessica’s past, Kilgrave’s reappearance will send shockwaves through the former super hero’s world.”

In the comics, Kilgrave can produce pheromones which give him the power to control people’s minds as long as he’s physically nearby. He also can recover from severe injuries very quickly and is, quite literally, purple. But it’s not clear yet how closely Marvel’s series will stick to the comic version of the character. “I’m so honored and excited by the prospect of David inhabiting this multifaceted character,” said Melissa Rosenberg. “He can deliver the most heart-wrenching moment to the driest of lines, and all points in between. He’ll make Kilgrave a truly original villain.”

A.K.A. Jessica Jones has a 13-episode series order and will premiere on Netflix sometime later this year. The series is the second of Netflix’s upcoming Marvel titles, the first is Daredevil starring Charlie Cox as the blind attorney crime fighter.

Commentary: While I will always be a fan of David Tennant's work in Doctor Who, I also admire his range as an actor.  If you haven't seen it, I would really recommend seeing The Escape Artist (which is where I got that picture on the left).  In it, he plays a defense attorney who is able to exploit the law to get his clients off no matter how guilty they might be.  One of his clients becomes obsessed with him and from there, things go in several dark and disturbing directions.  Tennant was also really good in Broadchurch (and the American remake, Gracepoint, though it was hard at times to get past his American accent). 

In the comic series Alias (which AKA Jessica Jones is based on), Purple Man is responsible for torturing Jessica in some disturbing ways, which is what gets to to give up being a superhero.  Purple Man is a real meaty role, and Tennant should knock it out of the park.  I actually hope they just call him Kilgrave though.  I've always thought that was a much better villain name that The Purple Man.

I wonder if he will actually be purple?  If so, he would join fellow Doctor Who alum Karen Gillan who shaved off all her hear and was painted blue to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy!

These Marvel Netflix shows are all shaping up to be good, and adding Tennant to the cast of AKA Jessica Jones is a truly inspired casting choice!