The Biggest Easter Eggs In Jessica Jones
We don't care what time of year it is, we've got Easter on our minds thanks to all the Easter eggs Marvel delivered in the Netflix series Jessica Jones. Of course, not all Easter eggs are made the same, so while some were merely neato (hello, Stan Lee photograph!), others were downright monumental. Here's a look at the biggest Easter eggs in Jessica Jones. Spoilers ahead!
Nuke
When poor Officer Simpson first shows up, he seems like just another random Kilgrave victim. Then he unexpectedly starts getting kinda cool and kicking butt with his secret black ops knowledge. Then he just starts getting really, really creepy. But it wasn't until he popped those red, white, and blue pills that we put it all together and our jaws hit the floor: Simpson is actually Nuke! Created by the legendary Daredevil team of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Nuke is the result of a failed attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that produced Captain America. We'll definitely be seeing him again.
Sweet Christmas
When Luke Cage gasped out a disbelieving "Sweet Christmas!" after a sexual encounter with Jessica Jones, we gasped out our own "Hell yeah!" That's because in the comics, "Sweet Christmas!" has been Luke Cage's unlikely catchphrase since he first made his debut in 1972. The seeming non sequitur was a workaround by writers who weren't allowed to have Luke actually swear or take the lord's name in vain. So, like your grandma, they came up with an oath that almost kinda sounded like swearing, until you realize just how goofy it actually is. Which is great, because we like our Luke Cage with just a little side of goofy fun.
Jewel
Of all the squee-worthy nods to the comics in Jessica Jones, we're not sure any of them made us squee quite as much as the flashback where Trish tries to talk Jessica into becoming a full-fledged costumed superheroine, complete with a groovy costume and the codename Jewel. In the show, Jessica laughs it off, but in the comics, she does indeed fight crime using the Jewel name and costume when she first encounters Kilgrave. Now we just need a scene with Jessica actually wearing the costume!
Hellcat
Speaking of Trish "Patsy" Walker, almost every scene with her character throughout the series is an Easter egg of one kind or another. Because while Jessica Jones has only been around since 2001, Patsy Walker has been a Marvel star since 1945. Everything in the show is actually referencing one storyline or another, especially that bit of superhero fangirlism with the costume. In the comics, Patsy's love of superheroes eventually led her to don a costume herself and fight crime under the name Hellcat. All that krav maga on the show and her epic throwdown with ex-lover Nuke? That was just the start of what could very well become the Hellcat experience. Here's hoping.
Preacher
It was just a throwaway line, but the biggest inside joke of the series is due to a sly Easter egg for fans of a very different comic book series from an entirely different publisher: DC's Preacher. When Kilgrave quips in Episode 8 that he "once told a man to go screw himself," he's actually referencing the first Preacher story, where lead character Jesse Custer—who has the same exact powers as Kilgrave—does just that, with consequences too messed up to talk about here. Preacher, of course, is currently being adapted by AMC, so you may get to see that play out on-screen in all its gory detail soon enough.
White Tiger
Other than Luke Cage, there didn't seem to be a ton of setup for other future Netflix shows like Iron Fist or Defenders. But there was one small Easter egg that could help tie everything together: White Tiger. That's the alter ego of Angela del Toro, the rival private eye Jessica refers Luke to in Episode 6. In the comics, Angela is not only a close ally of Daredevil, she also receives her powers through a mystic talisman from the city of K'un-Lun—the same place Iron Fist gets his powers from. It's all starting to make sense.
The Purple Man
Okay, so it's common knowledge that in the comics, Kilgrave is better known as the supervillain Purple Man. And this was subtly alluded to several times in the series, as Jessica's PTSD flashbacks to Kilgrave's mental control always took on a purple hue. Not to mention that purple dress she tore in half. Still, hardcore fans were longing to see the Purple Man actually be purple, which is why it's so gratifying in the final episode when Kilgrave's newly enhanced powers do indeed cause him to very briefly turn purple when trying to control Jessica. That's fan service for you.
Speedball?!
Probably the most out-of-left-field Easter egg in the entire series involved one of the most unlikely superheroes in Marvel comics history, Speedball. He's a goofy teenager who has the power to bounce around at high speed, like one of those super balls you get out of a grocery store vending machine for a quarter. No, he didn't actually show up in Jessica Jones, even in his civilian identity of Robbie Baldwin. But that secret science lair where they were studying the aborted Kilgrave fetus, Hammond Labs? Yeah, that's the same place Speedball was given his powers in the comics. And that's no coincidence, even though we wish it were. If Speedball is going to infiltrate the Marvel Cinematic Universe, can Squirrel Girl be far behind?