Marvel is premiering their next street-level superhero show, Jessica Jones, on Friday Nov. 16 2015. With the release of Netflix’s Daredevil earlier this year to great acclaim, it was a smart move by Marvel to bring out their next series as quickly as possible. Unlike some of her blockbuster movie counterparts, or Daredevil because of the unfortunate Ben Affleck film, Jessica Jones isn’t well known to the typical superhero movie fan. Here’s a brief, spoiler-free, rundown of Marvel’s newest superhero, and what she means for their cinematic universe.
Jessica Jones, played by Kristin Ritter, was created by Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote the original Age of Ultron story, and debuted in Alias #1 on Nov. 2 2001. Bendis chose to have Jones planted throughout Marvel’s 50 year publishing history by having her present during important moments that most readers would know (for example, it turns out she was in Peter Parker’s science class when they visited the radioactive lab). After trying to become a superhero in her own regard—Jessica has the quintessential superhero powers like super strength and flight—Jones gave it up to become a private investigator that deals with superhuman cases after a traumatic experience with Zebadiah Kilgrave, also known as the Purple Man. Kilgrave is advertised as being the main antagonist of the Jessica Jones series and is played by the 10th Doctor himself, David Tennant. A master of manipulation, Kilgrave uses a sort of hypnosis through pheromones to make his victims do whatever he wants against their will. The series takes place during Jessica’s P.I. years and deals heavily with the fallout from her experiences with Kilgrave, while simultaneously setting up Jessica’s involvement in next year’s Luke Cage series.
Jessica Jones is an interesting character to bring into the Marvel cinematic universe. She isn’t your average superhero; she smokes, holds the honour of being the first hero to drop the f-bomb, and deals with subject matter that is far darker than Marvel’s typically goofy fare. Jessica will also be the first female superhero, at least since the superhero revival, to helm her own series. After the poor handling of Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it’s good to see that Marvel is not only giving a spotlight to one of their great female heroes, but that she is getting a chance to helm her own series. Marvel CEO Ike Pearlmutter complained in a leaked email to Sony CEO Michael Lynton that female helmed superhero projects were not successful, by drawing on the poorly made attempts that had been made in the past. Female super heroes haven’t been given the chance, whether creatively or financially, to succeed; but both Marvel and D.C seem to be making an attempt to fix the issue of underrepresentation in their products. Early reviews have been stellar for the pilot of Jessica Jones, and this could be a turning point for female driven super hero projects in the future.