Jessica Jones How S2 Can Top S1: Spider-Man's Chameleon As The Next Villain

[Stark Bauer]

How do you top Kilgrave?

Daredevil looks like it just may top S1's Kingpin with The Punisher.

I hope they stick to the psychological thriller aspect. Keep it gritty. It will be hard to find an actor to top the performance of Tennant.

Possible storylines for season 2:

1) Trish becoming Hellcat and Jessica in conflict with her out of concern for her life.

2) Flashbacks of Jessica's time as a superhero prior to opening up Alias Investigations.

3) Keep it street level with a bigger, more ambitious villain: Enter. The CHAMELEON.

Aside from his physical advantages, the Chameleon is a master of disguise, and a brilliant method actor and impressionist. He is also a master of creating lifelike masks and make-up. He is a quick-change artist who can assume a new disguise in less than a minute, although he no longer needs to use such skills. He also speaks several languages fluently. Although the Chameleon is not a scientific genius, during his increased lifespan he has been exposed to a wide array of sophisticated experimental technology, much of which he can apply effectively in his nefarious schemes.

In his 2010 appearances in The Amazing Spider-Man, writer Fred Van Lente placed a stronger emphasis on his skills of disguise rather than his superhuman powers. In this portrayal, Chameleon kidnaps people and brutally kills them by dumping them in an acid bath. From listening to them beg for their lives, he alters his pitch to sound exactly alike and takes a face print to make into a mask. This more chilling Chameleon also seeks to fix the lives of his "faces", attempting to rectify the problems of their lives while he poses as them as a part of some warped heroic view of himself.

Based off the second paragraph, this season would write itself. Jessica would investigate the deaths and kidnappings and then see these people who allegedly "died" walking around days later. This would tie in with Daredevil as it would be revealed that the Chameleon was hired by none other than Wilson Fisk to draw out Jessica and to orchestrate his escape from prison. At the end of the season, she realizes the need to be a part of something bigger than herself, she seeks out the devil of Hell's Kitchen which leads us to...The Defenders.

Who would play the Chameleon?

How about Dexter himself, Michael C. Hall.



Shouldn't be too hard to get in contact with him seeing as JJ's showrunner worked on Dexter.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Eh, I think that's extremely unlikely even leaving aside the likelihood that they don't have the right to use him. I think the next season will go for a different approach than a single solitary villain like Kilgrave - particularly one who has had no personal connection to Jessica Jones.

 

[KevanG]

I don't see this happening despite the agreement with Sony. Maybe it's due to Sylar from Heroes doing it.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

My idea for a season 2:

She goes after IGH to find out about why she has powers. Some of IGH's experimental substances have leaked out and are used as recreational superdrugs that go for high prices with dealers, which Jessica ends up involved in. Jessica finds out at some point that she was tested on by IGH and goes looking for anyone who can help her learn more. She finds out about more IGH scientists, among whom Herbert Wyndham and Jonathan Drew. She goes to find them, but instead finds the daughter of one of these scientists, also called Jessica, who they also experimented on when she was dying, just like was done to herself, Killgrave, etc. This other Jessica doesn't know about her father and is also looking for answers, so she decides to help. Also, at some point IGH releases Nuke or he goes rogue and causes a lot of damage and goes after Jessica and Trish. The latter of the two becomes Hellcat at some point.

 

[Random490]

I have an idea that's interesting but may be a bit too soap opera-y

Her brother is alive. The IGH discovered he had powers just like Jessica and took him away to be experimented on/condition to be mercenary for them. Fortunately for Jessica they didn't see any changes in her before concluding she wasn't changed by it. He'll grow up believing Jessica is dead and embraces IGH.

Not sure how well it would work but it is a nice twist.

 

[metaphysician]

One possible twist to put in play: IGH is unethical in its experiments, but they are *not* black hat villainous. Force Jessica to deal with a bunch of super scientists whose research is sketchy on numerous levels, but are motivated by a mixed set of human virtues and vices. Deny her easy answers, and make her have to delve deep to find out the truth, because of countless layers of obfuscation arising from not from sinister conspiring, but from people freely mixing altruism and ego.

Or basically, use the Thompsons as something of a model.

 

[BarryAllen]

I would make the Power Broker (Curtiss Jackson) and Dr. Karl Malus as the big bads of Season 2 and tie them in with IGH. Bring in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. From Wikipedia:

By far the most common participants, however, have been those who have undergone the strength-augmenting treatment of the Power Broker, a quasi-legal corporation run by Curtiss Jackson that uses the fruits of the many mad scientists populating the Marvel universe. The process is somewhat risky, however, and many wind up deformed or with severe health problems as a result. Also, the Power Broker organization is not without its corruption; at times, they not only augment their clients, but inject them with highly addictive drugs in order to control them. As a result, many of the Unlimited Class wrestlers also find themselves moonlighting as supervillains.

That seems something that fits right into the world of Jessica Jones. Hell, even bring in D-Man (Dennis Dunphy), but obviously without the costume. I've always seen him as sort of a male Jessica Jones, a once forgotten hero who seen some lows, but has always been a survivor.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I think those are some good ideas. One of the strengths of using a faceless corporation as the bad guy is you can bring in a lot of C and D level villains as employees (just like Nuke). In addition to creating a paranoid "who to trust" atmosphere where people in the government could be corrupt and working for them.

 

[Dasher10]

I'd rather see Jessica hired by a wealthy client (who'd be an original character so that the twist isn't spoiled for anyone) to investigate a strong of murders connected to his associates since he fears that he's next. All the evidence points to a mysterious billionaire who just came into town with no prior records of his existence and who nobody has seen in person. The only lead she has to go on are a black helicopter that appears at each murder scene.

Along the way Jess befriends a cabbie who helps her with leads.

It turns out that her employer is actually a member of either The Ten Rings or The Hand and his associates were involved in an arms smuggling ring who were supplying terrorists in the Middle East with weapons and the only Americans who would know this outside of high ranking members of the government are mercenaries a PMC run by a Raul Bushman who may have fought these terrorists personally. It turns out that Bushman has no knowledge of any of the current killings and an alibi that proves that he's in no way connected but that one platoon under his command went missing in some ruins in Egypt but the bodies were never recovered and they were left for dead.

Jess is torn between helping her employer get away with a terrible crime, allowing somebody to be killed in cold blood or turning her employer in to the authorities and risking being the killer's next victim. It turns out that the killer is the cabbie, who's been keeping tabs on her to feed her false leads and that's why nobody has ever seen Steven Grant face to face. His real name is Marc Spector and we seem him in full Moon Knight garb in the final episode as Jess tries to keep him from finishing the job. Spector wants to kill him allegedly as the lethal enforcer of the god of the moon who he claims saved his life and to finish the job he started in Egypt. The villain lands in prison and Marc is free to go since everybody he's killed HAS been connected to international terrorism in some way or another and he gained his money from SHIELD to establish his identity as Steven Grant so even though he's arrested, Coulson pulls a few strings to get him released.

How's that for a Season 2? Moon Knight would be set up to get his own series with Bushman as the big bad for Season 1 AND we get a great murder mystery with a cool twist that people wouldn't see coming until halfway through the first season when the cabbie says that his name is Jake.

As for how the black helicopter subplot is resolved. The chopper is just for evac. He actually approaches his targets by taxi after dropping Jess off. That's how the subplot is dropped after Frenchie gets arrested for piloting an unauthorized vehicle. Frenchie actually WAS involved after all.

And I'd make Jess pregnant through the whole season. She learns after the first few episodes and starts showing a tummy in the last 3 or 4.

And I wouldn't do much in the way of marketing Moon Knight. I'd keep it a secret until release. Something where Bushman is just billed as a PMC business executive and Marc Spector is just stated to be a cab driver who has a recurring role. The marketing should say that after Purple Man, there's very few enemies that Jess has so some new ones need to be invented. I wouldn't even bother to advertise Frenchie at all either but absolutely detail the new original villain without saying that he's a villain and that the killer is a familiar character who few would expect to see. The marketing needs to be really, really ambiguous so people don't know that the bad guy is actually a good guy and that he's already a popular character. Otherwise, what's the point of a murder mystery anyway?

And the fight scenes would need to be toned down due to the whole pregnancy thing so Jess doesn't totally overpower Marc in the last episode. I want it to be resolved with words and guile since otherwise Jess is just going to be curbstomping Marc since he doesn't have powers.

 

[punk_joey]

I think as Jess is a private I a shapeshifter would work well as a villain for her. The Chameleon is too high profile and has rights issues attached to him but what about a throw away character like Robert "Bobby" Tisdell who has had contact with Jess in the comic books? He is a short large man which could be visual interesting to contrast Ritters hight and although in the comics he uses his abilities to saduce women, which is a little too Killgrave, they can reimagine him and even tie him to IGH.

In the comics he turns into Luke Cage and tries to seduce Jessica. I guess if there is that Killgrave overlap we can get a cool cameo from Tennant as she revisits the trauma but yeah.

Also, in the comics, Bobby gets his powers by selling his soul to a demon called Vetis. I remember someone suggesting Trish's mother selling Trish's soul for fame, which I really liked the sound of but doubt the show would go down that route. It would be a way for Trish to get her powers and link her to her comic book counterpart but its pretty obvious the show will ground her and she will get mixed up with IGH.

If Trish gets some type of psychic ability she could help track him down.

His one and only appearance being Deadpool vol.3 # 11 might be an issue though.

 

[DrCosmic]

1) Better Action Scenes. Jess is supposed to be at least Super Soldier level, lets get some wirework going and make the fights more about wrestling and throwing and weaponizing things that no one else can weaponize than the sort of Star Trekky double hammer to the back type of normal strength brawling, with come and go super strength. The Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation could be a good ground for that to happen within, even if it's just for an episode.

2) Feature another incredibly cool hero prominently. I wouldn't want them to be as central as the Punisher was, but, basically, another Luke Cage that's not Luke Cage. Moon Knight from the above is a great suggestion. It'd also be great to have D-Man around as just this really horrible guy/thing.

3) Really, REALLY explore the IGH storyline. Everything. Super power politics, ethical science, drug addiction, her past, a Captain America conspiracy, just really ransack that idea as deep as it can go, and it goes to some really dark places. Power Broker as a big bad that is a necessary evil would be a really great touch, here. That would make for two really incredible 'big bads.'

4) Put Trish Walker on the street in action and in costume. Because that's what she's building up to. Extra points for adding an IGH addiction to her whole setup ala Patriot from the comics.

5) For goodness sake lets have some crossovers. At least she should meet Foggy, y'know? How she hasn't run into Daredevil, at least in passing, is beyond me.

 

[Moridin]

1) Better Action Scenes. Jess is supposed to be at least Super Soldier level, lets get some wirework going and make the fights more about wrestling and throwing and weaponizing things that no one else can weaponize than the sort of Star Trekky double hammer to the back type of normal strength brawling, with come and go super strength. The Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation could be a good ground for that to happen within, even if it's just for an episode.

Very much this. One of the biggest problems with season 1. And not just better action, consistent power levels. S1 was all over the place, one episode JJ can lift up the back end of a car with ease, another episode she struggles to wrestle a scissors out of an old mans hands, it kept taking me out of the show. The devil is in the details, and Daredevil blew JJ out of the water in that regard.

 

[BarryAllen]

1) Better Action Scenes. Jess is supposed to be at least Super Soldier level, lets get some wirework going and make the fights more about wrestling and throwing and weaponizing things that no one else can weaponize than the sort of Star Trekky double hammer to the back type of normal strength brawling, with come and go super strength. The Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation could be a good ground for that to happen within, even if it's just for an episode.

3) Really, REALLY explore the IGH storyline. Everything. Super power politics, ethical science, drug addiction, her past, a Captain America conspiracy, just really ransack that idea as deep as it can go, and it goes to some really dark places. Power Broker as a big bad that is a necessary evil would be a really great touch, here. That would make for two really incredible 'big bads.'

I think those are some good ideas. One of the strengths of using a faceless corporation as the bad guy is you can bring in a lot of C and D level villains as employees (just like Nuke). In addition to creating a paranoid "who to trust" atmosphere where people in the government could be corrupt and working for them.

Yeah, which is why I think the Power Broker and Karl Malus be a good fit for the villains of Season 2. The legality of the Corporation and the Unlimited Class Wrestling Foundation, the ethicality of their actions, the mystery, the affect their procedures have on people mentally and physically is something that fits the tone of Jessica's world so well.

And yeah, it does allow for lesser known villains to be used, which is something Jessica Jones could definitely use.

2) Feature another incredibly cool hero prominently. I wouldn't want them to be as central as the Punisher was, but, basically, another Luke Cage that's not Luke Cage. Moon Knight from the above is a great suggestion. It'd also be great to have D-Man around as just this really horrible guy/thing.

I think someone like Moon Knight would take away from the focus of of Jessica and her storyline, because he's just so different. I think since she's the relatively newest character of the four characters they've chosen for the Defenders, Marvel should really focus on fleshing her out and focus on making her a viable character with strong stories about her, and someone like Moon Knight can take away from that. Definitely upgrade Trish to Hellcat and have her tag along with Jessica.

Which is actually why I think D-Man (Dennis Dunphy) would be a great addition to the show as an ally of Jessica's. I mentioned earlier that I've always seen him as sort of a male Jessica Jones: a once forgotten hero who seen some lows, but has always been a survivor. Comic fans often think of him as a joke yet he certainly didn't start off that way, and he's constantly gone through the ringer in the books. Take that and apply that to the show: He is someone you could introduce who doesn't take away from Jessica, but actually could help advance her as a character. You could have him and Jessica bond over their traumas and seek to help each other overcome their demons. Jessica's experience with her Kilgrave ordeal could allow her to empathize and sympathize with Dunphy's struggles (continuing the themes of the help group from Season 1), and this might inversely help Jessica to open up more and be more positive. And it would be cool to see him join Trish and Jessica fight baddies. His powers can be pulled off and he can add to the action seeing that he's a wrestler. He seems like the perfect addition.