Marvel’s JESSICA JONES Netflix Show Sounds Awesome

Back in April, Marvel’s Daredevil was pretty much unanimously praised for its grittiness, realism and long-drawn, engaging and excellent storytelling. It’s most definitely one of the best things to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal between Marvel and Netflix included three more shows: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist leading up to The Defenders miniseries. They’re not the most famous of heroes (aside from ol’ devil horns) but they’re interesting in their own right, and that particular female-led show is coming this year. As it turns out, the rest will all be following within six-month intervals.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association (via IGN), Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos revealed,

“I think ideally there will be a rhythm of about every six months you’ll get a new season or a new series from the Defenders group, and then they’ll crossover into a combined [Defenders] season once we’ve launched the first season of each of the four characters. Some will selectively have multiple seasons as they come out of the gate. So they’ll probably be two launches a year.”

More Marvel on Netflix is good news. It’s an excellent platform because there really are no restrictions whatsoever in terms of content and that fits these heroes perfectly – as we learned on Daredevil, with Wilson Fisk smashing a Russian mobster’s head in with a car door four episodes in. Meanwhile, on Agents of SHIELD…

The use of the word “some” in relation to second seasons is also interesting. Daredevil Season 2 is actually already shooting and will be out next year alongside Luke Cage but this would seem to hint that other shows will get further seasons. Which will be lucky enough to break out? I imagine the main reason Murdock’s getting one is because of how much of a massive hit the show was so it may not have been immediately planned, in which case plans could still change and may end up including even more TV shows. The exec said that there is a definite chance that characters such as Jon Bernthal’s Punisher could end up getting their own series at some point(!!!!).

“It is possible for sure. That’s the beauty of the Marvel universe. Any of them could spin out into films too.”

DD and Punisher hittin’ it up on the big screen?! Lord, someone hold me.

Sarandos confirmed that Jessica Jones will most definitely be coming in the “fourth quarter” of this year, i.e. November/December. This clears up some confusion as nobody really knew for a while whether it was coming this year or next, and we’re glad that it’s the former. Its showrunner Melissa Rosenberg has also been chatting and hyping about the show, which in turn has gotten us pretty hyped.

“It all starts with Brian Michael Bendis’s Alias series. He created this incredibly flawed, damaged interesting character. Regardless of gender, it was the character that drew me. He wasn’t afraid to go there and we went even further. We’ve gone further in all of our storytelling. is the audience going to respond to this or not? I don’t know, but if I’m afraid of it I’m doing the right thing.”

It stars Kristen Ritter in the lead role, who you might remember as Jesse’s drug-addict girlfriend Jane from season 2 of Breaking Bad. This will mark the second Marvel Studios product with a female lead after Agent Carter, and soon Captain Marvel will follow. Pretty awesome, huh? Ritter certainly sounds like she’s doing a bang-up job.

“The one thing where Steven [DeKnight] has the advantage, his show was called Daredevil but Daredevil has an outfit. Charlie Cox can get a break once in a while. My show is called Jessica Jones. There is no mask. Krysten Ritter is the hardest working actress.”

“Jessica Jones is a very different show from Daredevil. We exist in a cinematic universe, the mythology of the universe is connected, but it will look very different. Tonally they’re very different. If you pick up Bendis’ Alias and pick up Daredevil, they’re wildly different. That was my one concern. Would I have to fit in with Daredevil? The answer was, ‘No, we’re hiring you for your point of view.’”

Well, that’s good news.

Head on over to /Film for some more info from Rosenberg on the show, including some comments from Steven DeKnight and an intriguing little hint on the character of Night Nurse played by Rosiaro Dawson.

It’s great that this next show will continue the dark tone of Marvel on Netflix because these characters deserve proper adaptation, but it will certainly be interesting when (as it’s not really a matter of “if”) they show up in the movies how they’re gonna be adapted. I’m sure some liberties will be taken but Marvel will need to find a way to keep the core of the characters intact whilst ensuring that they’re suitable for PG movies.

Fret not, true believers. There’s still a hell of a lot more Marvel shows to come. And hey, if you’re bored then why not just rewatch Daredevil a million times?