After a tragic ending to her short-lived Super Hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a private detective.
David Tennant well knows the way of the geek. The Scottish actor, so widely recognised as the 10th Doctor by Doctor Who's passionate fanbase, looks upon the Hollywood proliferation of live-action comic-book adaptations and understands.
Since boyhood, Tennant has been a fan of the source.
"These are the movies and TV shows that I wished for when I was a kid. These are the things that I fantasised would be around. I guess technology couldn't have made them happen when I was a kid.
"So it was very exciting to get the call."
That call offered Tennant the chance to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Marvel's newest Netflix show, Jessica Jones, (out tomorrow), as the villainous Kilgrave.
Tennant describes Kilgrave as a character who has an "extraordinary facility for compelling people to do whatever he likes".
"What I liked about [Kilgrave was], he wasn't a villain who was trying to take over the world. His goals are much more selfish. He's just interested in himself."
Tennant believes the keys to Marvel/Netflix's success is having producers who, with genuine comics backgrounds, provide authenticity for die-hard fans.
"Marvel [shows] are rather brilliantly run by the people who used to make comic books," Tennant said.
"Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe is reaching out into a whole new mass audience, it's being done with a real respect and a love for the source material."
One aspect of Kilgrave, however, didn't make it to screen. In the comics, Kilgrave is referred to as The Purple Man, but with Marvel's Netflix series swimming in suggested realistic reality, purple skin wasn't going to make the cut.
"What I liked about [Kilgrave was], he wasn't a villain who was trying to take over the world. His goals are much more selfish. He's just interested in himself."
"It was explained to me very early on that I was not going to be painted purple."
But Tennant notes Kilgrave's purple wardrobe is a wink to fans of Kilgrave's comic-book origins.
What really makes Kilgrave tick is a singular obsession. A man who can have anything he wants can get bored pretty quickly. So what's the one thing you would become obsessed with? How about the one person that got far enough away to say no.
Enter Jessica Jones.
"The one thing that he hasn't been able to tame into his world, of course, is the one thing that he ultimately wants," Tennant said. "[Kilgrave] is a man who has no weaknesses and he ends up creating one himself."
As a past Doctor who has plenty of experience getting cheers from a fan base, Tennant said being on the evil side of things has advantages in terms of the type of performance he can give.
"There's always something very tempting about the villains because they have the liberty of immorality," Tennant said.
!["What I liked about [Kilgrave was], he wasn't a villain who was trying to take over the world. His goals are much more selfish. He's just interested in himself."](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/HBU3BGMBHQMHCJXEQYLTTQMUQI.jpg?auth=1edb37d3e10887c0fc25a95f37c94c3eea33ff5ed4d9d54c87d6179e0345cd35&width=16&height=22&quality=70&smart=true)
