Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here.
Jessica Jones, the wise-crackin', hard-drinkin', private investigatin' superhero, is back for
a kick-ass second season, and with Avengers: Infinity War just around the corner the show
has some awesome easter eggs and teases for the Avengers' epic showdown with Thanos.
Plus, there are some cool deep-cut Marvel references which I'll be explaining.
My new Marvel giveaway is also starting for all my subscribers so keep watching and I'll
have more details on that later.
Obviously, there are some spoilers for Season 2, so take care if you're not caught up.
There are some great hat-tips to Avengers: Infinity War, previous Marvel movie team-ups,
and the comics when Jessica lets herself into Oscar's apartment to look for clues only to
find his young son, Vido, awake.
"Do you have any cool toys in your room you wanna show me?"
"Do you know Captain America?"
"I got his action figure, but I lost the shield."
"So I made him a new one."
"All by myself."
"I just glued a magnet to it so it looks like the real one."
"Cap's shield is cooler."
"But this one doesn't have to take down any aliens, so it'll do."
There's quite a lot of references here, so let's break them down.
Vido's holding a Captain America figure dressed in what looks like his classic colours which
we saw him wear in Civil War.
This isn't the first time we've seen how popular Cap is with kids in Jessica's world as, in
Season 1, we saw a young child wearing a Captain America costume in the park when Jessica first
tried to abduct Kilgrave.
Back to this season: Vido's line about losing Cap's shield is a delightful nod to the fact
that Captain America abandoned his shield at the end of Civil War following his full-on
battle with Iron Man.
"That shield doesn't belong to you."
"You don't deserve it!"
"My father made that shield!"
But Vido's words are also a shout-out to Avengers: Infinity War where we'll likely see Cap without
a shield for a period of time.
"Get this man a shield!"
But thanks to a certain genius by the name of Shuri and some super-cutting-edge Wakandan
tech, Infinity War will also debut Cap's epic new arm shields.
And, frankly, I cannot wait!
By the way, I talk in detail about Cap's new gauntlets, including how they compare to the
comics, in my video about Cap's new shield.
Now, the fact Vido has created a replacement shield for his Captain America figure using
a magnet is also a hat-tip to both the MCU and comics where we've seen Cap throw his
shield around and call it back using magnetic elements.
Vido also says Cap's real shield is cooler than the one he's made and adds, 'but this
one doesn't have to take down any aliens.'
Well, if Vido loves Cap's multi-coloured shield which he used to kick alien Chitauri butt
in the first Avengers movie, just wait till he gets an eye-full of his new monochrome
shield in action in Infinity War where it will most definitely be used to take down
some major alien threats from the likes of Thanos's Black Order and those four-armed
creatures called Outriders.
And then there's Vido's question to Jessica, 'Do you know Captain America?'
Jessica's hesitation in replying here is a hint to the comics.
The MCU's Jessica certainly does know of Steve Rogers and the Avengers, just like the rest
of New York, for example, in Season 1, she referred to 'the flag waver' and 'the big
green guy', in other words, Captain America and the Hulk.
But it's in Marvel's comics where Jessica Jones actually does know Captain America personally.
In early issues of the Alias comics, Jessica inadvertently captures Captain America's secret
identity on film while she's on a case for a client.
When she realises she's been set up to catch Cap on camera, Jessica keeps the tape safe
until she can hand it over to Steve Rogers himself, who praises her for helping him,
and tells her to get in touch if she needs anything or decides to be a superhero again.
And in the What If?
series, Jessica not only joined the Avengers but she actually ended up marrying Steve Rogers!
On top of that, in certain comics, the mantle of Captain America is taken on by Jessica's
daughter with Luke Cage: Danielle.
"If you say 'with great power comes great responsibility', I swear I'll throw up."
Jessica also drops several sardonic references to Spider-Man during season 2, including plays
on the line, 'With great power comes great responsibility'
"You're always saying how powers are good but you were wrong."
"What?!"
"With great power comes great mental illness."
And puns on Peter Parker's Spidey-sense.
"I know she's in trouble."
"Because of your scroty-sense?"
"Goddamm right."
Of course, Spider-Man is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe now, but even before his
first MCU appearance in Civil War, the creators of Jessica Jones were already sneaking easter
eggs to the web-crawling superhero into their first season.
Yes, if you look really carefully, you can see an ice-cream cart which was selling Spider-Man
ice cream!
As for this season's more overt shout-outs to Spidey, they're a call-back to Jessica's
comic-book history with our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Given TV Jessica's sarcastic tone when she talks about Spidey, it's actually quite funny
that in the comics her dad didn't seem to have a very high opinion of the young web-slinger
either.
As for Jessica's various mentions of Spider-Man's famous mantra in the show, that has a special
significance if you dive back into the comics.
In the books, after Jessica got her super-powers, it was seeing Spidey take on the villainous
Sandman at her school that inspired her to become a hero like him.
And when she tells Spidey what an enormous impact he had on her life, he shares with
her the saying that he lives his life by: 'with great power there must also come great
responsibility'.
Jessica then tells him that she'll teach the meaning of those words to her daughter, Danielle,
who, as I mentioned earlier, in some comics, grows up to take on the role of Captain America.
And in addition to that, it's Spider-Man who encourages Jessica to go back to being a superhero
again.
"Well I was buying whiskey at this liquor store, and this guy came in."
"He was all jumpy and dope-sick and I knew he was there to rob the place."
"Because of your spidey-sense?"
"I don't have spidey-sense.
And that's far from the only connection between Peter Parker and Jessica in the comics as
not only did they go to the same high school, but she also had a quite a crush on him.
In fact, she was about to ask him out when things started to go radioactive for Peter!
Now, while it would be fun to see Tom Holland's new Spider-Man swing through Jessica Jones's
TV world, we're very unlikely ever to see that happen; however, given the pair's rich
history in the comics, I'm sure we will get plenty more Spidey-related references like
the ones I've talked about here in future shows.
And Jessica Jones doesn't just limit its connections to the Marvel movie universe, but it also
has plenty of references to Marvel's Netflix shows.
When one of the cops interrogating Jess says, "I know you people like to team up", it's
a nod to Jessica's last appearance in The Defenders where she joined forces with Daredevil,
Luke Cage and Iron Fist against the Hand.
Plus, it's also a call-back to the first season of Jessica Jones where she worked together
with Luke Cage, who offered his support again to her at the very end of The Defenders series.
"Try staying in touch Jess.
You got friends."
"One of them is in Harlem."
And the cop's words also foreshadow Alisa's suggestion to Jessica that they team up to
do good and the way they work together to save the family whose car crashes with a truck
carrying chemicals, as happened to Jessica's family in the comics.
On top of that, the cop's line about superhero team-ups is also a wink to the Avengers movies
as well as various incarnations of the Avengers in the comic books some of which featured
Jessica Jones as part of the famous group of superheroes.
Oh, and when Jessica's former boyfriend, Sterling, finds out that her middle name is Campbell,
that's a hat-tip to the comics, where Jessica's original surname was Campbell until she was
adopted by the Jones family after her biological family died in a car accident.
Speaking of Sterling, one of the guys who threatens him wears a necklace with the number
23 on it and asks about Jessica, 'Can she fly?', which is a clear shout-out to issue
23 of Alias where Jessica starts to fly but ends up crash-landing in the river, though
later she flies again and manages to stop a robbery by the former PI-turned-villain,
the Scorpion.
Now, what did you think of Season 2 of Jessica Jones?
And did you spot any other cool MCU or comic-book easter eggs?
Be sure to leave me a comment below with your thoughts and subscribe for your chance win
an awesome Marvel Funko Pop.
The winner from my last Marvel giveaway is on screen now, so if that's you, private message
me with your details so I can send out your prize.
And while you're waiting for my next Marvel video, tap the screen to check out my latest
theories, easter eggs and superhero videos.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!