Entertainment

This Marvelverse Easter Egg Popped Up In 'Jessica Jones' & You Probably Missed It

by Dylan Kickham
Netflix

We all know that Marvel loves to connect all of its superhero movies with little Easter eggs and mentions — and also big crossovers and team-ups — but the comic book-based franchise rarely ever connects its Netflix series of shows to its big movie universe. Sure, The Defenders brought all of Marvel's TV stars together, but it seems incredibly unlikely that Marvel's small-screen heroes will be meeting up with the big-screen Avengers. Even though a Defenders/Avengers meet-up does not sound probable, Season 2 of Jessica Jones has been referencing Marvel Cinematic Universe an awful lot. For instance, Marvel's The Raft gets a Jessica Jones Season 2 reference, making a very clear connection to 2016's Captain America: Civil War. And interestingly enough, this is not even the first MCU reference that Jessica Jones has made this season. Spoiler alert: This post will discuss details of Jessica Jones Season 2 up to the point of Episode 8 "Ain't We Got Fun."

For the first half of the new season, Jessica Jones is trying to get to the bottom of what IGH is, and also ascertain the identity of the mysterious, superpowered woman that is killing on the mysterious organization's behalf. Well, that mystery gets solved at the exact midpoint of the season, with Jessica finally realizing that this powered woman is named Alisa, and she is actually Jessica's mother. Dr. Karl and IGH saved Alisa from the car crash just like they saved Jessica... except the damage to Alisa's body was much more severe, which is why she wound up looking unrecognizable to Jessica with her new face.

Obviously, this reveal is a total mindf**k for Jessica, who believed that her mother had been dead for the past 17 years, and is now learning that she is actually the woman responsible for the recent string of murders. At first, Jessica tries to fight her mom and Dr. Karl, but after Dr. Karl locks them in a room together, they have time to talk a bit. Here is where we get that Marvel Cinematic Universe reference: with the police on their way to take in Alisa for her murders, she tells Jessica that if she is caught, they will throw her on The Raft — an infamous prison for superpowered beings. Alisa warns that people who are kept on The Raft never see the light of day again, and that actually works on Jessica, who agrees to help her mom escape the police.

Now, The Raft is not a new concept to Marvel fans, particularly those who saw Captain America: Civil War when it came out in 2016. In that movie, The Raft played a pretty pivotal role: after Iron Man's side of the split-in-half Avengers beat Captain America's side in an all-out fight on an airport tarmac, most of Cap's allies were held captive in The Raft for going against the new government ordinance to control the Avengers. We see Ant Man, Falcon, and Hawkeye all held in The Raft's cells, but at the very end of the movie, Captain America shows up to bust them out. I guess Alisa's claims that everyone who has been thrown in The Raft never got out aren't entirely true.

To make things even more interesting: this is the second major reference to Captain America: Civil War that the new season of Jessica Jones has made. In the third episode, Oscar's son Vido tells Jessica that he had to make a new shield for his Captain America action figure. Just like how at the end of Civil War, Cap gives his shield back to Tony Stark, and in Infinity War he will replace it with a new shield. Hmm, maybe there is hope for an Avengers/Defenders crossover sometime in the future.