‘Jessica Jones’ Is Another Hit For Marvel And Netflix

Just seven months after the successful Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil was premiered to critical acclaim, Jessica Jones — which premiered November 20 — has been gathering just as much praise. The 13-episode noir-style show is based on a Marvel Comics character created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos in late 2001. Alias, the 28-issue run in which the character made her first appearance, features Jones living in New York working as a private investigator, after a tragic end to her superhero career.

The wait's almost over. A little something to get you through the next twelve hours. #JessicaJoneshttps://t.co/CLroWR3xHu

— Jessica Jones (@JessicaJones) November 19, 2015

The Netflix series Jessica Jones is heavily inspired from Alias, with Krysten Ritter starring as the title character. Jones is in the middle of rebuilding her life, working as a P.I., after a psychologically and emotionally abusive/traumatic experience with the show’s main antagonist, Kilgrave — portrayed by Doctor Who’s David Tennant. In the show, he was born Kevin Thompson, gaining the ability to control people’s minds after an experiment. Jessica Jones was his most prized and beloved victim, warping her mind and making her commit horrifying acts that later get exposed as the series develops. Ritter said that she never saw herself accepting a role such as this, according to People.

“I never in a million years fancied myself playing a superhero. I don’t look like superheroes that we’ve all seen in that female form with the outfit and the boobs and the big hair – that’s just not me. I was like, ‘Well, I’m never going to get that.’ And my manager was like, ‘No, no – it’s actually really right for you: she’s a superhero, but she’s really bad at it.’ So in my mind, I’m like, ‘Is this like a slapstick comedy? What is this?’ I went in knowing so little about the part. I had no idea what was in store for me.”

A stubborn, hard-drinking, flawed and mess of a human being, Jessica Jones has to learn to cope with and overcome her traumatic past when she realizes that Kilgrave is traumatizing more victims. Along the way, Jones gets Luke Cage, a superhero character whom she becomes married to in the comics, involved in her complicated life, as he becomes one of the very few people she can trust and feel truly comfortable with. Cage (played by Mike Colter), who has unbreakable skin and possesses strength beyond that of a normal human being, discovers that Jessica has been hiding equally fascinating powers of her own. The two strike up a strong sexual chemistry and relationship pretty quickly, having their super strength in common, while Jessica can also leap to incredibly high distances.

And since the show’s home is on Netflix, it has given the creative minds behind Jessica Jones enough room to go deep into some dark places, says its creator Melissa Rosenberg.

“The only thing we couldn’t do was drop f-bombs, which we wanted to. One of the things that’s unique about this character is that (Ritter) is not afraid as an actress, and Marvel as a studio, to let her make some stupid-ass decisions, to be wrong, to look ugly as a character. And that defines the show: You can have a character that’s actually really f***ed up, but there’s something at her core that lets you stay with her.”

Jessica Jones is the second show for a solo character since Marvel’s partnership with Netflix, the first being Daredevil. Luke Cage will be next in line to get his own series on Netflix, which should premiere sometime next year. Jessica Jones and Daredevil are currently available to stream on Netflix.

(Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)