10 Most Powerful Jessica Jones Villains [Ranked]

Jessica Jones is a fan-favorite street-level superhero, not just because of her awesome superpowers but also her being so relatable, flawed, and down-to-earth. She overcomes every obstacle despite all her troubles, as shown against some incredibly powerful villains.

So, how strong is Jessica Jones? Well, the best way to describe it is to see who she was up against. Here’s the ultimate list of the ten most powerful Jessica Jones villains, ranked from weakest to strongest.

10. Denny Haynes

Denny Haynes isn’t the most powerful villain Jess ever faced, but he’s the spitting image of her most common foes. Haynes first appeared in Alias #18 in 2003, working as a crooked drug dealer who used the Mutant Growth Hormone to produce pills that give you superpowers but with dire consequences and side effects.

He bit more than he could chew, though, because, despite having superpowers from his drug, Jess and Mattie Franklin eventually beat him. I chose to put Denny on this list because that’s why Jones usually deals with – criminals who use anything and anybody to get more power.

9. Scorpion

While Scorpion is not really a Jessica Jones villain, but rather Spider-Man’s, he was one of the first criminals that Jess had ever defeated. Well, kind of defeated. Jones just learned she had superpowers. As she explored those powers and tried to train herself in using them, Jessica attempted to fly.

It worked for a second. However, she ultimately lost control and fumbled from the sky, only to fall directly onto Scorpion, who was robbing a laundromat. Yes, a laundromat.

Despite being somewhat silly with his crimes, Scorpion was actually quite tough and gave Spider-Man problems several times when they fought. However, he’s on this list because the fall and subsequent apprehension of the Scorpion made Jessica realize she could do good with her powers, ultimately leading her to become a superhero.

8. Owl

Again, Owl is not just a Jessica Jones villain, but their encounter was crucial for Jess and who she is today. Usually, Leland Owlsley was a Daredevil villain, first appearing in Daredevil #3 in 1964. He was influential, had money, and tried to become the new Kingpin of New York. Owl’s number one trait was the ability to fly shorter lengths.

When Owlsley met Jessica Jones, she was still recovering from the trauma and mental damage Killgrave had inflicted upon her. She was going down a dark road and was ready to kill Owl right on the spot.

Unfortunately (or luckily), the horrible criminal literally brought his children to their encounter. Jones realized this is not a game and, unwilling ever to hurt innocent kids, she snapped out of her dark rage and changed tactics, leading to the Owl being apprehended instead of viciously murdered.

One might say that Owl saved Jessica Jones from becoming a villain simply by showing her how despicable and vile a villain can be.

7. Nuke

Frank Simpson, aka Nuke, first appeared in Daredevil #232 in 1986, and although he’s incredibly ruthless and often a stone-cold villain, one might even understand him being so horrible when you know what kind of a life Frank had.

He lived with an abusive, alcoholic mother and fell in love with his babysitter. However, she was in love with Frank’s father, Charles, so she used Frank and convinced him to kill his mother. He did, only for the babysitter to have an affair with his dad. Suddenly, Wolverine came and killed the woman, to which Charles committed suicide.

Wolverine took Frank and brought him in for Project: Homegrown – an experiment similar to the Weapon X program. Nuke is a badass when fully powered. However, although we’ve seen the character in the Jessica Jones Netflix show, we haven’t seen him at his strongest self. Plus, Jessica doesn’t see Nuke as a villain, so I couldn’t put him higher on the list.

6. Jared Beekman

Now, Jared Beekman’s story was as weird as it gets. He was an abusive ex-boyfriend of one of Jessica’s clients, Dia Slone, who had mutant abilities to partially warp and manipulate reality. Beekman was jealous of her powers, so Slone gave Jared her powers to show him that it’s not always bread and butter.

Soon after, Beekman accidentally splits himself into two persons – one having all of his positive sides and traits, while the other had all the negative, evil, horrifying traits of his personality. The “evil twin” quickly went on a murdering spree, forcing Jones to react and put him in his place.

He even managed to kill numerous important Marvel females in that particular storyline, including Sybil Dvorak, Lorina Dodson, Elsa Bloodstone, Mary Jane Watson, and even Jessica Jones herself.

Later, Jared was forced to undo everything he had done step-by-step, merge into one person with the good and bad side, and was ultimately apprehended in Jessica Jones – Marvel Digital Original #3 in 2018.

5. The Skrulls

Who doesn’t like the Skrulls? Well, probably every Earth superhero in Marvel comics. It seems that everyone battled the Skrulls at some point, mostly during the Secret Wars. Their beef with Jessica Jones came when Jess inadvertently interacted with several of them.

We know what the Skrulls can do – take the shape of anything or anyone they want. So, one time, they took her shape, while on another occasion, a Skrull pretended to be Jarvis, only to steal Danielle – Jess and Luka Cage’s baby daughter.

The shapeshifting ability makes every Skrull a formidable foe for any hero. They can manipulate and defeat you without ever fighting.

4. Benjamin Killgrave

Zebediah Killgrave, Jessica Jones’s arch-nemesis, had many children who had similar abilities. While most of them tried to accept who they were and just live in peace, one of his sons, Benjamin Killgrave, targeted Jess just like his father.

The Purple Son first appeared just recently, in 2019’s Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter – Marvel Digital Original #1. Unlike his other siblings, Benjamin didn’t have his father’s abilities, so Zebediah wasn’t particularly fond of him, treating him poorly compared to the other children.

When Killgrave died, the kids stole his corpse, which ultimately led to him returning to life. Benjamin kept Zebediah in a coma to steal his blood after he realized he could use it to duplicate the Purple Man’s abilities.

Benjamin injected Emma Frost with Killgrave’s blood, turning her against Jessica Jones, but he ultimately lost the battle. Zebediah was taken to the Raft, while Benjamin escaped. While Benjamin wasn’t as powerful as his dad, he was sinister and sociopathic in his actions.

3. Green Goblin

Norman Osborn is usually Spider-Man’s nemesis. However, there’s a lot of overlap with Jessica Jones, as Jess and Peter Parker actually went to high school together. She faced the Green Goblin in The Pulse #4-5 in an ugly fight that ended badly for Osborn.

Ben Ulrich said he could prove that Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin. His article was supposed to go into print, but before it could happen, the Goblin attacked him and Jessica Jones in Oscorp.

A blast sent Jess flying, but Spider-Man showed up and saved her. However, the worst part was that Jones was pregnant at the time and feared the blast made her lose the baby. She fights the Green Goblin in mid-air, and he eventually escapes.

The encounter led to Jess being in a hospital, where she, fortunately, found out that the baby was safe. Still, Luke Cage was extremely enraged that the Goblin hurt them. He found Osborn and brutally beat him up before his Green Goblin identity was revealed and Norman apprehended.

Although it was more Luke Cage than Jessica Jones that beat the Goblin, I had to put him this high on the list simply because of the legendary status of the character. After all, this is a list of Jessica’s most powerful villains, regardless of how much the two actually fought.

2. Superior Spider-Man

Peter Parker is such a good guy – which is why he hardly ever uses his maximum potential. Spider-Man is a lot stronger than one might think, but he has to consciously hold back on his punches because his full-power strikes could kill almost anybody. Parker doesn’t want to kill, so he rarely uses his maximum potential.

Well, when Doctor Octopus switched bodies with Peter Parker, it created the Superior Spider-Man – an unhinged, full-strength badass version of the web-slinger. Jess never really fought Doc Ock in Spidey’s body alone, but she was among the members of the Mighty Avengers when they fought Superior Spider-Man.

Bad Spidey threatened Jones’ and Cage’s kid before offering them to join his team. Of course, they refused, and Doc got punched in the face for mentioning their child. It’s never a good idea to make it personal with the power couple.

1. Killgrave (Purple Man)

Last but not least, Zebediah Killgrave is Jessica Jones’ most horrible villain, not just for his powers but for all the horrible things she had done to Jess. We’ve seen a version of Killgrave in the Netflix series, too, portrayed by David Tennant.

Killgrave mentally controlled and commanded Jones, holding her captive and making her do unspeakable things, including sexual intercourse. She couldn’t break free from his influence until Killgrave made her kill a person. The trauma left Jones scarred for a long time but allowed her to break free of the Purple Man’s control.

In the comics, Killgrave first appeared in Daredevil #4 in 1964 but had the most impact years later in the storylines with Jess. Like in the show, Killgrave kept Jones captive for eight brutal months, but the Avengers captured Jessica Jones and discovered she had been brainwashed and controlled (Alias #26).

Instead of trauma making Jones break free, Jean Grey actually put a mental block in Jessica’s mind so she couldn’t be controlled by Killgrave again.

They fought many times later, but those eight months left a mark on Jess that can never disappear. He definitely deserves the number one spot on this list, just like he would be the number one spot on the “biggest scumbags” list.