Krysten Ritter, Melissa Rosenberg Talk ‘Jessica Jones’ — ‘Luke Cage’ Cast Coming To Comic-Con 2016

Jessica Jones had a very successful first season, and Netflix has given the greenlight for the show to return for a second season. The show’s star and its showrunner have been doing various interviews ever since the show first debuted last November, revealing new information each time. Krysten Ritter and Melissa Rosenberg continue to talk Jessica Jones as Ritter prepares to start filming Netflix’s The Defenders later this year.

While talking with Deadline, Rosenberg began by commenting on how and why Ritter was right for the role. Krysten was one of the first actresses to come in for an audition way back when Jessica Jones was being developed for ABC, which was before it found its home on Netflix. Ritter’s ability to balance both dry wit and drama was very appealing to Rosenberg.

Krysten Ritter herself was looking for a role like this to come along, one that would allow her to showcase some heavy dramatic acting while also playing such a complex, flawed female character.

“She’s an alcoholic, she’s a mess and I became very intrigued. I met with Melissa and talked about the show. She spoke about it like a straight drama; a physical character study. Then they locked me in the room with the script and I was blown away. I walked out of that meeting and said, ‘Let’s lock this up.'”

Krysten then began describing a little bit of the prep work involved prior to filming the first season. She got herself an acting teacher, spent time in the gym, and even had to relocate to New York in order to film Jessica Jones. Being in complete isolation, away from friends and family, helped get her into the headspace of the character.

.@Krystenritter & Melissa Rosenberg on #JessicaJones: “So many people feel represented by Jessica” https://t.co/RQ8ajCMhte

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 27, 2016

Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, who wrote the Twilight film franchise and was a writer on Showtime’s Dexter, was approached by ABC to possibly develop a series. She said that she was interested in writing about a flawed hero like Tony Stark/Iron Man. She then met with Marvel’s Jeph Loeb and was introduced to the character of Jessica Jones, but the tone of what they had developed wasn’t the right fit for the network, which is why it moved over to Netflix.

“You’re telling a 13-hour movie. So at Netflix, there was more real estate in creating depth and more time in evolving characters. Whereas on the network, it would be about trimming frames and plot.”

Jessica Jones will be returning for a second season on Netflix, which should begin production right after The Defenders near the end of this year. For Krysten Ritter, this means she will be filming the Defenders mini-series and Jessica Jones Season 2 back-to-back.

Of course, Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Finn Jones (Iron Fist), and Mike Colter (Luke Cage) will be joining her. Heroic Hollywood reports that the showrunner of the Netflix Luke Cage series, Cheo Hodari Coker, Colter, and the show’s co-star Alfre Woodward will be attending San Diego Comic-Con 2016.

Luke Cage will have finished production by the time Comic-Con rolls around, and the site reports that Marvel and Netflix intend to bring exclusive footage to show fans. Last year, there was a New York Comic-Con Jessica Jones panel, where fans got to watch the very first episode of the series premiere. This could mean the Luke Cage series premiere could happen at this year’s Comic-Con, or it could be the first trailer or clip.

Iron Fist is still currently being filmed in New York, and after that will be production on The Defenders followed by Jessica Jones Season Two.

[Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Netflix]