Who Is The ‘Jessica Jones’ Season 2 Villain?

Marvel sure does love a mystery. They also love big twists, especially when it comes to their Netflix shows. Over the course of six series, the Netflix/Marvel world has thrived on misdirection and unexpected turns–usually ones that come late in the season. Jessica Jones Season 2 is no different, and all of the mystery surrounds the identity of one character played by Academy Award nominee Janet McTeer.

McTeer’s introduction to the Marvel Universe comes in episode 3 of Season 2, when–so many spoilers from here on out, BTW–it’s revealed that she has superpowers just like Jessica. Well, not just like Jessica, as she is actually way stronger than our private eye protagonist. We see more of McTeer’s unnamed character in action throughout the first five episodes, as she tears people and pianos limb from limb. But while we get a hint at a softer side (she lives in a cozy house and goes on a date with a mad scientist to an aquarium), we still don’t learn her name or true identity. Who is Janet McTeer playing?

The answer to that question comes in the very final seconds of episode 6, “AKA Facetime.” Again, turn away now if you don’t want to be spoiled, because this is a doozy!

You ready? Janet McTeer is playing Alisa Jones, Jessica Jones’ (Krysten Ritter) presumed-dead mother. That’s right, the Jessica Jones Season 2 villain is her mom! Sort of! Mostly! Listen, while there are a lot of factors at play in Season 2, Alisa Jones is the character that Jess punches the most.

This is a big deal because not only does Jess believe her family was killed in a car accident that she barely got out of alive, she spent the first few episodes of Season 2 staring at their ashes and trying to figure out what to do with them. Jessica’s mom has been dead for 17 years, so how in the world is she really alive? And why didn’t she reach out to her sooner?

Thankfully, Jessica Jones Season 2 doesn’t waste any time answering all of those questions. The very next episode, “AKA I Want Your Cray Cray,” takes us back to the tragic accident and tells us what happened to Alisa. Immediately after the car crash, Alisa and Jessica were both brought to IGH, where experimentation began. Alisa wakes up in a hospital bed, completely burned and scarred into an unrecognizable form (we’re talking Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar levels of burned). She sees her reflection and freaks out, easily shoving a nurse across the room. It turns out the experiments done to save her life augmented her strength, just like what happened to Jessica. Terrified and enraged, Alisa went on a rampage, tearing through the facility until she attacked a teenage patient. The doctor in charge of the whole thing, Dr. Karl Malus, stopped Alisa and dropped a truth bomb: that teen was her daughter, Jessica! Karl hit her with a tranquilizer and dropped Alisa right there.

Five years passed, with Alisa in a medically-induced coma while she underwent extensive DNA restructuring and totally illegal medical tests (that’s why Dr. Malus faked her death and shipped some generic ashes to Jessica to “help her move on”). When Alisa woke years later, she once again looked like a person (except for extensive scar tissue on the back of her head), but she no longer looked like herself. She was a new person, one prone to uncontrollable fits of rage, rage that doesn’t pair well with her Hulk-esque strength. She also didn’t like finding out that not only was her daughter still alive, but that her daughter believed her mother was dead.

Alisa went on another rampage, murdering a nurse and severely injuring another in her escape. She tracked Jessica down and spent a day spying on her, watching her super-powered college-aged daughter from afar. Their lives intersected briefly at a bar, when Alisa eavesdropped on Jess’ then-boyfriend in a back alleyway and found out that he was going to use her abilities to his illegal gain. She snapped, slammed his head into a brick wall repeatedly, and bounced when she heard her daughter coming. While watching her estranged daughter cradle her now boyfriend, Alisa realized she no longer fit into the world. She retreated back to IGH and the open arms of Dr. Malus–who would also turn into her new longterm boyfriend, adding even more layers of ethical ickiness to everything.

Episode 8 picks up back in the present and shows the fallout of this reveal, and the back half of the season focuses heavily on this unexpected and unlikely mother/daughter duo. But that’s who Janet McTeer is playing, a super-powered mom with a major temper problem and the ability to rip a man apart with her bare hands. Jessica Jones may have finally met her match.

Where to stream Marvel's Jessica Jones