It’s hard to imagine Jessica Jones without its awesome villain from the first season. David Tennant as Kilgrave was fantastic, and whoever the Season 2 villain is has some huge shoes to fill.
With that in mind, we put together a few of the villains in the universe that are waiting to be fleshed out — and hopefully one or two aren’t just wishful thinking.
Will Simpson (Nuke)
Nuke is the musclehead minion/cop who eventually enhances his speed and strength with top secret, military-grade supplements. One to get his adrenaline pumping, one to make sure he can breathe while his adrenaline is pumping, and one to chill him the hell out when he’s just grabbing pancakes.
In the comics, Kingpin hired Nuke to take out Daredevil in the Hell’s Kitchen area. It’s a little more complicated in the show. We saw Will Simpson in the first season of Jessica Jones, first trying to kill her with a gun and later resorting to his pills. As someone who knew what it’s like to be under Kilgrave’s control, his intent was to take out someone he thought was still under Kilgrave’s influence and shielding him.
Nuke’s certainly not a “main” baddie. He probably wouldn’t even warrant an appearance in one of the movies without some serious reworking. We still haven’t seen him in his “final form” with an American flag painted on his face yet, but it’s quite possible the show is happy to leave that as a relic of a different era.
The upcoming season of Jessica Jones is all about finding answers from the past, and Nuke could play into those insights as well. Being a product of the program that spat out the likes of Captain America and Wolverine, he has his own creation story to explore, much like Jones.
IGH
Don’t search too much for what IGH is an acronym for, because it stands for nothing. This is the paramilitary organisation responsible for doling out supplements to Nuke and others, enhancing their physical abilities while destroying their minds.
There were several hints towards the end of Season 1 of Jessica Jones that we’d be seeing more and more of IGH. Its mysterious nature and the fact that it’s in the business of creating powers would fit the season’s theme of discovering one’s genesis.
Willis Stryker (Diamondback)
Diamondback has a long and complicated history in the Luke Cage storyline — as you can imagine, what with him being Cage’s half-brother and later nemesis. But this particular thread was never fully wrapped up. The last we saw of Diamondback, he was on a hospital bed with Burstein walking into the room, no doubt about to do all kinds of SCIENCE.
Jessica Jones’ story is closely intertwined with that of Luke Cage. Obviously there’s a whole show dedicated to Luke Cage, and given Diamondback’s political maneuvering through Cottonmouth and Black Mariah, it might make more sense for him to be there.
As we’ve seen though, these shows have absolutely no problem sharing. We’re due for Season 2 of Luke Cage later on in 2018, so what better way to set up Diamondback than at least teasing him in Jessica Jones?
Mary Walker
We know that Leah Gibson has been cast as a street-wise, nurse-educated character named “Ingrid” in the new season, which many have connected to a Daredevil villain.
Typhoid Mary — or Bloody Mary, or just plain Mary depending on which of her personalities is in control at the time — would provide a bit of a different challenge with her telekinetic powers.
She also has a storied history with many other superheroes such as Spider-Man and Daredevil. The timid nature of Mary when she’s in control is enough to fool even Daredevil’s heightened senses, and is sure to provide some moral conflicts for heroes who have to contend with a gentle soul and a sadistic villain in the same body.
Gideon Mace
Halfway through Season 1 of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage walks into Jones’ office asking if she’ll investigate a case involving Angela del Toro. This could just be a cheeky mention of White Tiger, but it could also point to a larger inclusion of the hero.
To include another female hero would fit into the stated goal of making Season 2 very much about female empowerment. The #metoo movement will be front and centre, and every episode in the season is directed by a woman. In the same vein, we might see Trish Walker developed more as a hero as well.
What case would involve Angela del Toro? Her own origin story involves the murder of her uncle Hector Ayala, the first person to assume the name “White Tiger.” He had retired after his family was murdered by a man named Gideon Mace.
Upon his murder, the amulet that conferred his physical powers was delivered to Angela del Toro, and then found its way to Ava Ayala. That leaves her with a bunch of new powers and a major axe to grind.
At the moment, it looks like the most likely villains are Typhoid Mary and IGH, perhaps with a dash of Nuke. But who knows, the show is perfectly capable of surprising us, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.