'Jessica Jones' Season 2 May Bring David Tennant Back From The Dead

Is Jessica Jones resurrecting the Netflix show's most terrifying villain? Or is David Tennant's Kilgrave only returning from the grave for a traumatizing flashback in Jessica Jones Season 2?

We can't know for sure, except that it is confirmed that Tennant will be returning as the mind-controlling psychopath who raped and tormented Jessica in the show's first season. There's even an official set picture to prove it.

Entertainment Weekly broke the news that Tennant is returning as the supervillain who set Jessica off down a spiral of PTSD, and who cut a bloody swath through New York City as he terrorized Jessica's friends and allies in his quest to regain his control of Jessica.

And they've got the set photo to prove it.

Kilgrave was Jessica's constant source of torment through the first season of Jessica Jones, at first solely acting as the root of her trauma from when he held her hostage and turned her into his sex slave. But Jessica had escaped Kilgrave's clutches and believed him dead at the beginning of the series. To her dismay, she soon discovers that he's alive and well, and on the hunt for her.

A refresher for the end of the first season (and for those who didn't watch this is a huge spoiler — though why are you reading this if you haven't), Jessica had grown immune to Kilgrave's mind-control powers, allowing her to kill him by snapping his neck, throwing back his signature line at him, "Smile." It was as unambiguous a death as you could get in a Marvel production — though maybe not.

It's likely that Kilgrave will only return in a flashback to when Jessica was his captive, or as a physical manifestation of Jessica's trauma. His purple suit, which he wore frequently in the first season, is an indicator that this is the best bet. But this being Marvel, there's a chance that this won't be the case.

Marvel has a history of bringing back once-dead characters from the grave, often nullifying the emotional impact of their deaths. For Jessica Jones, Kilgrave's death was essential in bringing Jessica closure, as well as ridding the world of arguably one of the MCU's most dangerous villains. There's no downplaying the importance that Jessica was able to confront and kill her rapist in a season that heavily dealt with sexual assault and agency. But if Kilgrave is not dead, it feels like Jessica's actions were rendered meaningless.

The news that Kilgrave is returning is worrisome, not just for Jessica, but also for the series. A strong villain is understandably hard to get rid of, especially when he is someone so memorable and traumatizing as Kilgrave. But this could be a big crutch for the series that has shown the most potential out of the Marvel-Netflix series. I hope if he does return in any form for the second season, the series would use him sparingly.

Jessica Jones season 2 is set to premiere on Netflix in early 2018.