Exclusive: David Tennant Eyed For Marvel Return

In the latest Giant Freakin Robot exclusive, David Tennant could be making a return to Marvel, carrying over his character from Netflix.

By Doug Norrie | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

david tennant marvel

Now that Marvel Studios has control over nearly all of its characters, able to work them effectively into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the big question has been whether previous iterations of characters in different timelines would make their way into the MCU. Some characters are being recast but some, like those from Netflix, are carrying over with the same actors and actresses. And now we might have another example of someone making the move. The latest Giant Freakin Robot exclusive from our trusted and proven source is that David Tennant might be making a return to Marvel as his character Kilgrave. It would be another welcome addition to the universe. 

David Tennant played Kilgrave for Marvel in the first season of Jessica Jones on Netflix and briefly reprised the role in Seasons 2 and 3. The sinister, though sometimes forgivable, character had the ability to control the minds of those around him. He was a mostly bad dude who had a particular obsession with Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones character. Their battle was the focal point of that first season and Tennant was fantastic in the role. We got some backstory about the character as well, some insight into how he got his mind control powers, and just how he became such a formidable villain. 

The only issue with David Tennant making a Marvel return to play Kilgrave in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that the character seemed to, you know, die at end of the first season of Jessica Jones. After an entire 13-episode run of the characters battling both physically and psychologically, Jones was able to finally kill Kilgrave by snapping his neck. Fortunately, though, this is the MCU we are talking about and just because someone was killed in one timeline doesn’t mean they need to stay that way forever. With the Multiverse and some other mechanics, there are avenues for characters to return to the mix all of the time.

If David Tennant did make his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Netflix he wouldn’t be the only one. The studio has been making a concentrated effort to maintain continuity, where possible, with the Netflix grouping of characters. We saw Charlie Cox reprise his Matt Murdock/ Daredevil role in Spider-Man: No Way Home with more plans for him coming soon. And Vincent D’Onofrio was back as Wilson Fisk/ Kingpin in Hawkeye as well. There are plans to bring back John Bernthal as Punisher as well. And while there is still no official word if the studio plans to bring Ritter herself back onto the scene as Jessica Jones though we did have the exclusive a few months ago that a Disney+ series was in the works. 

A David Tennant Marvel return would be a fantastic move by the studio and another indication that they are interested in retaining some of the top-tier talent from previous stories while working them into the overall universe. It’s definitely the right way to go considering the stories on Netflix, while sometimes flawed, did at least build out an interesting world of its own. There’s plenty to hold on to over there and David Tennant’s Kilgrave is definitely someone worth reexploring if possible. We will have more word on how this all shakes out with David Tennant and Marvel as news is released.