David Tennant blew fans away when he played the mind-controlling Kilgrave in Jessica Jones‘ debut season back in 2015, easily earning a place among the very top tier of villains in the MCU. And even though the competition has gotten a little stiffer in the years since, the so-called Purple Man is still extremely high up on the list.
He proved so popular, in fact, that the writers couldn’t resist bringing him back for a cameo in this year’s second season, with the titular superhero private eye hallucinating her former tormentor in episode 11. As the real Kilgrave died at Jessica’s own hands in the season 1 finale, it seemed that this appearance offered a final farewell for the character and Tennant’s terrific performance. But the actor isn’t ruling out a further return in season 3 just yet.
While attending Salt Lake City’s FanX convention, the Scottish star was asked about the chances of more Kilgrave and responded by playing it coy, alluding to the villain’s death as a reason that he’s unlikely to return again.
“I don’t want to give spoilers, but for anyone who got to the end of the series, I’m not in a great state.”
When it was suggested that there’s always the handy device of flashbacks, Tennant admitted that is indeed a possibility. “Flashbacks, sure. Well, who knows,” he agreed, before breaking out into a mischievous grin and adding a final comment that makes us distrust everything he just said.
“There’s no immediate plans. But if there were immediate plans, I’d be denying them. So you know, who knows?”
Kilgrave’s shadow will always hang over Jessica, due to the huge psychological trauma he put her through, so it wouldn’t be out of the question for her past with the creep to be explored some more in season 3 via flashbacks. Plus, she could always hallucinate him again like she did at her lowest point in season 2, in which Kilgrave was effectively used as the devil on her shoulder.
Jessica Jones season 3 is currently filming. One set video we’ve seen so far promises that Trish Walker will get her Hellcat powers in the new run, while this will also be the last season overseen by showrunner and creator Melissa Rosenberg. It’s too early for a release date just yet, but it’s safe to say it’ll hit Netflix at some point in 2019.
