The specter of David Tennant’s Jessica Jones villain—Kilgrave, the mind-dominating Purple Man—has lingered across both seasons of the show so far. The character has become almost as inextricable from the series as Jess herself. But according to Tennant, that won’t be the case in its now-final season.
Entertainment Weekly recently sat down with the actor to get his thoughts on Jessica Jones’ inevitable confirmation that, alongside The Punisher, it was joining the rest of the Marvel-Netflix shows in the cancellation pile:
I don’t really regard it as a cancellation so much as something having the life that it should have. Three seasons of that story is great. Rather than thinking of it as something that was canceled, I think of it as something that had three seasons that will live in the memory.
But intriguingly, the site also notes that Tennant and undisclosed sources have confirmed to it that the actor will not appear the show’s final season. You may recall that despite being killed off in the first season, he re-appeared in season 2 to depict Kilgrave as a lingering memory hounding Jessica from inside her mind. Which is interesting as, in the wake of the season 3 news, Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg teased that Kilgrave’s story is not necessarily over going into the third season:
So is this obfuscation on Tennant’s part, or will Kilgrave appear through old clips or previously shot material, meaning that while Tennant himself won’t be back, the character will be? Or will he just be mentioned in season 3, without any actual appearances?
We’ll have to wait to get closer to the conclusion of Jessica Jones’ story to find out, it seems.
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