Some nerd wet dreams came true back in January when it was announced that David Tennant (best known as the 10th Doctor from BBC’s Doctor Who) will be joining the Marvel Universe as Dr. Zebediah Killgrave a.k.a. “Purple Man;” a supervillain with purple skin and hair who has the power of mind control. Set pictures have been released showing Tennant in the signature Purple Man suit but looking otherwise normal, leaving us to wonder if effects will be added or if the show will be sticking with the “gritty and realistic” angle. After all, although Vincent D’Onofrio’s character was huge and imposing, physically he fell short of the mountain of a man depicted in the comics.
One thing is for sure… Anyone familiar with Tennant’s acting knows that he will blow the role out of the water, and it should be fun to see him as the bad guy for once.
Tennant’s casting as Killgrave signals even more good news for fans of comic book shows. First of all, his confirmation–along with that of Kristen Ritter (Breaking Bad) as the titular Jessica Jones and Mike Colter (Halo: Nightfall) as Luke Cage–all but guarantees that Netflix and Marvel are moving forward with the rumored Defenders setup. It seems Cage will make his first appearance in AKA Jessica Jones (slated to come out late fall/winter 2015) before getting his own stand-alone series in 2016. Also supposedly in the works is an Iron Fist series. Kingpin, Purple Man… these are villains who commonly cross over between Marvel’s New York-based heroes (I personally first saw Kingpin as a Spider-Man baddy).
When will the comic hero show bubble burst? That’s a topic for another article. Let’s just hope that quality doesn’t drop with quantity and these new shows can stand up to the high standard set by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil. At least until we get to see the kinetic whirlwind and supremely good 10th Doctor as a tortured, manipulative, evil–and possibly purple–Marvel villain.
