After speculation that she would appear in Jessica Jones season two, Marvel confirmed that comics villain Typhoid Mary would debut in the MCU in Iron Fist season two.
Alice Eve – best known for the likes of Star Trek Into Darkness and Black Mirror – was confirmed during Comic-Con to be playing the character and enthused that her portrayal is "very, very violent". "The reason I took the role is because I got to play someone with multiple personalities," she added.
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Here's everything you need to know about Typhoid Mary, her role in Iron Fist season 2 and her possible future in the MCU.
Iron Fist season 2 villain: Who is Typhoid Mary?
Created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Mary Walker made her debut in Daredevil #254 and suffers from dissociative identity disorder, following an incident at a brothel where Mary worked.
Matt Murdock had tracked someone down to the brothel and accidentally knocked Mary out of a window as he attacked the man. This provoked Mary – following a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse – to vow that no man would ever hurt her again, leading to two further personalities: Typhoid Mary and Bloody Mary.
These see her switch from being a shy and quiet ordinary person to a super-powered killer with martial-arts skills, as well as a healthy dose of telekinesis and pyrokinesis. Basically, she's bad news to anyone she comes into contact with.
Given her background, Typhoid Mary has largely been a nemesis of Daredevil in the comics, although she has also battled the likes of Deadpool, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man. She was often hired as an assassin by the Kingpin and despite Mary's battles to keep her murderous personalities in check, it was because of these interactions with the Kingpin – and other crime bosses – that saw Typhoid Mary or Bloody Mary come out.
The complicated thing about her connection with Daredevil is that Matt even started up a romance with Mary, unaware that he was battling one of her evil personalities at the same time. And you thought your Tinder dates were awkward.
Typhoid Mary's Daredevil run ended when she was taken down by Matt's bodyguards Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, with her imprisoned on the Raft as a result. Little did they know that Electro was going to attack the Raft and Mary managed to escape in the ensuing battle.
She would come back in Avengers: The Initiative #4 as Mutant Zero (although her identity was kept hidden initially) and has also made appearances in Shadowland and X-Men where she was a part of Lady Deathstrike's Sisterhood of Mutants.
Iron Fist season 2 plot: What happened to Typhoid Mary?
When we first meet Typhoid Mary early on in season 2 of Iron Fist, the submissive 'Mary' personality is in control. Being the gentleman he is, Danny Rand befriends Alice Eve's character in the street and tries to help her become accustomed to life in the city. However, it's not long before the 'Walker' personality takes hold and we soon discover that this part of her works as a mercenary who's been hired by Joy Meachum to investigate and capture Rand.
As the series progresses, it's revealed that Walker once served in the United States Army out in Sokovia and was captured by the country's Armed Forces. After her fellow squad members were murdered before her eyes, Sergeant Walker endured months of torture and sexual abuse until the day where she developed Dissociative Identity Disorder in order to cope with the trauma.
At that point, Walker broke free and a third, more violent personality took over, butchering her captors with twin machetes. Afterwards, neither the Mary nor the Walker personalities could recall what had happened and the very existence of this third alter remained unknown to them both until the end of the series.
While Typhoid Mary grappled with her various personalities, she also grappled with her role in Danny's capture, and eventually came to realise that Davos was the real threat. Switching sides, Walker betrayed Davos and actively tried to kill him before he could do the same to her.
Following their victory over Danny's brother, Walker then visited Joy in the final episode of the season and told her that she could make use of her resources one day in the future, hinting that the fan favourite character will be back in a future Marvel Netflix show.
Daredevil season 3 cast: Could Typhoid Mary appear?
Given Typhoid Mary's connection to Daredevil in the comics, we're not ruling out that she could become the latest character to cross over to other shows in Netflix's Marvel universe.
What's more, Daredevil season 3 was filming around the same time as Iron Fist season two, so it's a possibility that Eve could have shot scenes for Daredevil too.
If Walker does return in Daredevil, then there's plenty of scope to flesh out the anti-hero's story even more. Not only are her origins inextricably linked with Matt Murdock, but Typhoid Mary is also connected to the Kingpin in the source material and it's already been confirmed that Vincent D'Onofrio will return in season 3.
Perhaps the criminal overlord will hire Walker to kill Daredevil once people realise that he survived the events of The Defenders finale?
Whether she sides with the angels or devils of Hell's Kitchen, one thing that seems certain is that future storylines involving Walker will explore the violent third alter that both she and Mary discovered towards the end of Iron Fist season 2.
We don't envy Matt Murdock if he gets on the wrong side of Bloody Mary, particularly if she ends up exhibiting the same abilities as her comic book counterpart. Typhoid Mary is already dangerous enough as it is before you throw telekinesis and psychokinesis into the mix.
Has Typhoid Mary appeared outside the comics before?
While she was in X-Men: The Animated Series, Typhoid Mary's only voiced appearance in a Marvel TV offering before was in season four of Avengers Assemble where she was played by Tara Strong (who also voiced Dil Pickles in Rugrats, fact fans, as well as numerous other roles).
Typhoid Mary has also popped up in video games The Amazing Spider-Man vs The Kingpin and The Punisher, both of which were first released in 1990.
If you subjected yourself to 2005's Elektra, you will have also seen a version of Typhoid Mary with Natassia Malthe's Typhoid. The similarities to the comic book origin were few and far between, but she was at least an assassin (this time for the Hand), even if her superpower of being able to kill anyone she breathes on or touches was purely the movie's invention.
While she's not called Typhoid Mary during the movie, the DVD extras confirmed that she was meant to be playing a version of the character. She did at least manage to give Elektra a smooch, although didn't manage to kill her.
Iron Fist season two is out now on Netflix.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
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