At some point or another we have all wanted to have superpowers. For some of us, it really is about the opportunities these abilities would afford us to help others; for others, having powers would be a way to our lives easier in ways we never could have imagined. Marvel’s new Netflix series Jessica Jones features one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most evil villains to date in the form of Kilgrave: a man who can control people’s minds by emitting pheromones. These abilities cause him to do some of the dastardliest things ever seen in the MCU, and even the actor behind the villain is a little afraid of him.
Speaking with MTV International, actor David Tennant discusses how taking on the role of Kilgrave has made him worry about what it would be like to have the potent power of mind control:
What I’d worry about is what it would do to your moral compass, that’s what would concern me. I think it would be very difficult to find anyone who could maintain the moral fibre required to not abuse that power.
He most certainly has a point. While plenty of powers have been introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kilgrave’s ability to control people’s minds is arguably the most self-serving set of abilities we have seen so far. He cannot fly, shoot lightning, or lift a building, but he can make anyone do anything, which means that he can get whatever he wants whenever he wants. As shown in Jessica Jones, that sort of influence over others can most certainly skew a person’s ability to have normal, rational relationships. Tennant also posits a few other awesome powers to have for personal use, such as time travel and invisibility, but mind control seems to be the one with the most insidious implications.
Of course, as with all superpowers, there is another side to that coin. Without delving too much into spoiler territory for Jessica Jones, the series does delve somewhat into the topic of harnessing Kilgrave’s powers of influence for good. The problem for him stems less from the fact that he has these abilities and more from the fact that he has had them for so long he never really learned a sense of right and wrong, or how to properly use them.
Check out the whole interview below to get a sense of Tennant’s feelings towards Marvel and superpowers in general:
So while we all have at one point or another wished for superpowers of our very own, we feel that it is safe to say we are also incredibly grateful that there is no one in the world who can really control minds in the same way that Kilgrave can. Marvel’s Jessica Jones is currently available to binge on Netflix, and if you want to see the MCU taken to a seriously dark place, be sure to check it out.
