# How will Marvel explain Jessica Jones' superpowers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871 "2015-04-16T23:15:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/1 "2015-04-16T23:15:57Z")
I was thinking about the Marvel Netflix series as a whole after watching the Daredevil series and I had a thought—up till now, the MCU seemed to be pretty set in its philosophy wrt how people become “superheroes.” Either you used some sort of technology l(ike Iron Man, Falcon, Winter Soldier, War Machine) or you were the result of supersoldier experiments (Captain America, the Hulk), or you were the result of alien biology (the Asgardians, the Inhumans). They were very clearly and carefully steering away from the comic book idea that anyone who got exposed to any radiation or strange chemical or got hit by lightning while working on a nuclear plant would develop superpowers. Then came the Netflix series and Daredevil, who develops enhanced senses due to getting hit in the face with a can of radioactive goo off a truck. After that, we’re going to have Power Man and Jessica Jones in the next series. In the comics, Luke Cage becomes Power Man due to a (sabotaged) experiment, which fits with the former philosophy, but Jessica Jones gets the ability to fly and super strength after her family’s car collides with a military truck carrying some sort of experimental radioactive element. If they don’t go for that explanation in the TV series (and I hope to GOD they don’t) how are they going to explain her abilities? If they go with something similarly accidental (if slightly less campy) then have we seen a shift in the MCU philosophy wrt how people get superpowers? I hope not, because that’s getting way too campy for a series of TV shows that are supposed to be dark and gritty. But if not, how else will they explain it? Will they delve into the whole inhuman gene storyline that Agents of SHIELD is following? That seems quite a tangent for a 13 episode series that has lots of subplots as is. But flight just doesn’t seem like a superpower you’d get accidentally…maybe they’ll just skip the whole flying thing altogether? I gotta admit, I am pretty curious as to how they’ll handle this. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/2 "2015-04-16T23:39:19Z")
They can go three ways 1. comic origin story all the way, radioactive whatevers and all. We already have plenty of (to be honest) totally silly pseudoscience in our origins so far. I don’t see how a radioactive superweapon is any worse than toxic goo or ‘gamma radiation’ as far as origins. 2. modified comic origin - tie it in to something already in the MCU: an existing government program or hydra plot or related to someone else’s origin story. Not much reason to do so other than to tie in the larger MCU, but possible. 3. ignore it. We (the Netflix watching audience) know there are superpeople in this universe. Jessica is a super, she’s been traumatized, so she’s trying to be an ex-super, but life isn’t so simple. Done. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/3 "2015-04-16T23:41:25Z")
…I can’t answer your question, but I loved “Alias” and Jessica Jones is awesome: and I didn’t think that Krysten Ritter was quite right for the part until I thought about it for a little bit, and now I couldn’t think of anyone better for the role. I’ve just finished binge watching Daredevil and now I am so looking forward to this. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/4 "2015-04-16T23:58:19Z")
I don’t think they established that the stuff that hit Matt was necessarily radioactive - just some strange caustic substance in poorly maintained barrels. For all we know, it could have been a batch of failed Super Soldier Serum. You could basically go the same route with Jessica Jones - she was exposed to something in an accident years ago that gave her superpowers. It could be radioactive, or more serum, or buckets full of Kree blood, or whatever. The actual composition of the stuff doesn’t really need to matter. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/5 "2015-04-17T00:19:55Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > They can go three ways > > 1. comic origin story all the way, radioactive whatevers and all. We already have plenty of (to be honest) totally silly pseudoscience in our origins so far. I don’t see how a radioactive superweapon is any worse than toxic goo or ‘gamma radiation’ as far as origins. > > 2. modified comic origin - tie it in to something already in the MCU: an existing government program or hydra plot or related to someone else’s origin story. Not much reason to do so other than to tie in the larger MCU, but possible. > > 3. ignore it. We (the Netflix watching audience) know there are superpeople in this universe. Jessica is a super, she’s been traumatized, so she’s trying to be an ex-super, but life isn’t so simple. Done. I can see the Hydra thing…actually, THAT would make more sense than anything else. She’s a Hydra experiment that turned against them and made a deal with SHIELD not to use her powers anymore. That would explain why she does what she does too. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/6 "2015-04-17T05:29:24Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think they established that the stuff that hit Matt was necessarily radioactive - just some strange caustic substance in poorly maintained barrels. For all we know, it could have been a batch of failed Super Soldier Serum. You could basically go the same route with Jessica Jones - she was exposed to something in an accident years ago that gave her superpowers. It could be radioactive, or more serum, or buckets full of Kree blood, or whatever. The actual composition of the stuff doesn’t really need to matter. It’s TCRI mutagen! > **[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Daredevil Spawned from the Same Accident?](https://itssamuraijosh.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-daredevil-spawned-from-the-same-accident/)** > > According to Cracked’s Maxwell Yezpitelok both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel’s Man without Fear Matt Murdock were created from the same accident. Daredevil’s origin … ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/7 "2015-04-17T14:57:33Z")
I don’t see how any of these categories are any more or less magical hand-waving than the others. The technological explanations and the governmentally-developed biological enhancements are no more possible in the real world than the weird item falling off a truck. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/8 "2015-04-17T15:05:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I don’t see how any of these categories are any more or less magical hand-waving than the others. The technological explanations and the governmentally-developed biological enhancements are no more possible in the real world than the weird item falling off a truck. Yet they are less campy and silly. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/9 "2015-04-17T15:26:29Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I don’t see how any of these categories are any more or less magical hand-waving than the others. The technological explanations and the governmentally-developed biological enhancements are no more possible in the real world than the weird item falling off a truck. Yeah, they are – simply because they are intentional. Iron Man tech and super soldier serum aren’t “real” things, but in the universe the explanation is “the greatest minds of our time created these things intentionally.” That’s a lot more believable than “some random goop hit him and it randomly made him powerful instead of killing him.” I thought the slight tweak they made in The Incredible Hulk was good, too: it wasn’t just a random burst of should-have-been-fatal gamma radiation, it was another attempt to replicate the super soldier effect. It just makes more sense if the origins are intentional and have some commonalities. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/10 "2015-04-17T16:37:39Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > It’s TCRI mutagen! > > [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Daredevil Spawned from the Same Accident? | It's Samurai Josh](https://itssamuraijosh.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-daredevil-spawned-from-the-same-accident/) As I posted in the Daredevil thread: > [@Daredevil on Netflix viewing thread (open spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daredevil-on-netflix-viewing-thread-open-spoilers/717318/19): > > In the opening scene of the first episode, I was really hoping there’d be a kid in the background complaining that he’d dropped his pet turtles during the accident. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/11 "2015-04-21T02:44:13Z")
I really don’t see what’s wrong or “campy” (has any show other than 60’s Batman even been a little bit campy) about a show/movie based on a comic to use the origin presented in the comic. Ditto for the costumes (which I realize this thread didn’t bring up). We know they’re from comic books, we know people in real life seldom dress like that, but so what? Hardly the least plausible thing about the characters is how they dress or where they go their abilities from. Suspend a little disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/12 "2015-04-21T03:59:22Z")
Phase 3 will have **magic** with Dr. Strange. Anything they come up with will be fine. The gloves come off when The Supreme Sorcerer is around. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/13 "2015-04-21T12:46:39Z")
Actually, Dr. Strange usually wears his gloves. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/14 "2015-04-21T13:59:12Z")
Good point. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/15 "2015-04-21T14:56:24Z")
> [@](#): > > How will Marvel explain Jessica Jones’ superpowers? She gets them in a car crash where her family dies, doesn’t she? Something about carrying toxic or radioactive materials in the trunk or some such, IIRC. I don’t think it’s really important how she gets them. I’m more interested, personally, in how they develop her story. Will there be a Purple Man mind controlling her to do his will (both to fight the Avengers and other super heroes and for sexual purposes)? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/16 "2015-04-21T15:46:06Z")
David Tennant has already been cast as the Purple Man. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/17 "2015-04-21T15:58:30Z")
> [@XT](#): > > She gets them in a car crash where her family dies, doesn’t she? Something about carrying toxic or radioactive materials in the trunk or some such, IIRC. I don’t think it’s really important how she gets them. And yet throughout the first two phases of the MCU it HAS been important. It’s been a huge plot point. Hulk got to be Hulk because Banner was trying to duplicate the supersoldier formula. The Abomination got to be the Abomination by trying to combine the supersoldier formula with Banner’s experiments. Iron Man’s experiments were the basis for the IronMonger and Whiplash. Asgardian technology and biology has been a source of super powers on AoS and now the Inhuman gene is a major plot point. Basically, up till now the MCU doesn’t DO the whole “getting hit by a radioactive chemical makes you able to fly” thing. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/18 "2015-04-21T16:07:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > David Tennant has already been cast as the Purple Man. It will be interesting to see if they do any of the sexually oriented stuff from the comic book in this series, as from memory it was pretty adult oriented stuff at the time. [QUOTE=RikWriter] And yet throughout the first two phases of the MCU it HAS been important. It’s been a huge plot point. Hulk got to be Hulk because Banner was trying to duplicate the supersoldier formula. The Abomination got to be the Abomination by trying to combine the supersoldier formula with Banner’s experiments. Iron Man’s experiments were the basis for the IronMonger and Whiplash. Asgardian technology and biology has been a source of super powers on AoS and now the Inhuman gene is a major plot point. Basically, up till now the MCU doesn’t DO the whole “getting hit by a radioactive chemical makes you able to fly” thing. [/QUOTE] Well, as you say, they might stick with that theme, though they are re-booting The Fantastic Four and bringing in Spiderman, neither of who were part of the super soldier (unless they do yet another freaking origin story and shift that). Personally, I’d just like them to get on with the stories and not have to explain why folks got their various powers…at this point I think most people just accept that super heroes have super powers, and how they got them is, to me anyway, less interesting than what they do with them (this could be that I’m getting tired of the reboots and origin stories though). ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/19 "2015-04-21T16:29:24Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Well, as you say, they might stick with that theme, though they are re-booting The Fantastic Four and bringing in Spiderman, neither of who were part of the super soldier (unless they do yet another freaking origin story and shift that). The Fantastic Four is owned by Fox and is not part of the MCU. > [@](#): > > Personally, I’d just like them to get on with the stories and not have to explain why folks got their various powers…at this point I think most people just accept that super heroes have super powers, and how they got them is, to me anyway, less interesting than what they do with them (this could be that I’m getting tired of the reboots and origin stories though). What they intend from now is to not do any more origin stories…but that doesn’t mean they won’t explain how a character got superpowers, it will just be part of the narrative of the movie, not the plot of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871/20 "2015-04-21T16:33:08Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Well, as you say, they might stick with that theme, though they are re-booting The Fantastic Four and bringing in Spiderman, neither of who were part of the super soldier (unless they do yet another freaking origin story and shift that). Personally, I’d just like them to get on with the stories and not have to explain why folks got their various powers…at this point I think most people just accept that super heroes have super powers, and how they got them is, to me anyway, less interesting than what they do with them (this could be that I’m getting tired of the reboots and origin stories though). FF is not MCU. And Marvel is apparently done doing origin movies. I think we’ll get a handwave of ‘chemical accident.’ I’d love for it to be the same stuff that affected Daredevil and that can be one of the things that links the Netflix shows. Have they said what the parameters of her powers are? I doubt she’ll fly although that would be funny if she could she just doesn’t like it. (like Warpath from the X-men comics can fly for no explicable reason but he chooses not to because he feels silly doing it) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-marvel-explain-jessica-jones-superpowers/717871.md?page=2)