Here's Everything We Know About Marvel's 'Jessica Jones'
It seems like only yesterday that we all sat in front of our TVs and laptops all weekend binging the entirety of Marvel's "Daredevil" on Netflix, but soon we'll get to do it all over again with a completely different character -- "Jessica Jones," about a woman with superpowers
Unlike Daredevil, however, Jones isn't quite as iconic a hero outside of the world of comics -- so in anticipation, here's everything you need to know about the series before we all get to watch it:
First off, the show is coming to Netflix in October.
Which will put it about six months after the release of "Daredevil" back in April. We still don't have an official release date yet, but we know it's getting 13 episodes just like its Marvel predecessor did.
But it'll be very, very different from "Daredevil."
"It really comes down to the characters," showrunner Melissa Rosenberg told the press round table at the Television Critics Association last week. "They’re very different kinds of characters. Jessica is about paying rent and getting the next client. She’s dealing with a fairly dark past. She’s trying to get through the day. She’s not really trying to save the city. She’s trying to save her apartment."
She also added that Jessica's fighting style is VERY different than Murdock's, so don't expect the same level of martial arts expertise. "Jessica Jones is a brawler. She gets drunk, she gets pissed off and boom, you’re down. She doesn’t wear a costume. She doesn’t have a mask. She’s just who she is."
The show will be inspired by one comic in particular.
We've long suspected that "Jessica Jones" would derive much of its story from "Alias," the Eisner-nominated comic book by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos that first debuted Jessica Jones as a former superhero-turned-private investigator. Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg recently confirmed this at their TCA panel, saying, “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."
Expect to see a lot of Your Favorite Doctor.
Remember how much you loved Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk in "Daredevil?" The team behind "Jessica Jones" is hoping to bottle that sympathetic villain lightning once again in Zebediah "The Purple Man" Killgrave, as played by "Doctor Who" star David Tennant.
"I think one of the things that Melissa handled so beautifully is that there are times where there are questions about what the villain is doing," Jeph Loeb said (bia Blastr). "And you will be uncomfortably okay or not so much against what he’s doing until you go, 'Oh no, you’re really the villain. You really are a horrible person.'"
Of course, in "Alias" the Purple Man's shtick is much, much creepier than Fisk's was. Basically, he has the power to make anyone do anything, which he uses in some pretty despicable ways... especially against women. So it'll certainly be interesting to see how they straddle the sympathetic villian line this time around.
Plus a lot of Netflix's NEXT Marvel star.
It's you, Mike Colter! It's you!
Jessica Jones' story is very tightly interwoven with that of Luke Cage, the frontman for the next Neflix/Marvel collaboration (he's also sometimes known as Power Man). Eventually he, Jones, Daredevil, and the still not-cast Iron First will come together for a big "Avengers"-style team up series called "The Defenders."
Rosario Dawson will definitely appear, too.
We already knew that Dawson, who played Claire Temple in the first season of "Daredevil" was being brought back for other shows in the Marvel/Netflix family. Now, thanks to a comment Jeh Loeb made to Entertainment Online, her role in "Jessica Jones" has been made official.
Plus, get ready to fall in love with Hellcat!
Last January it was revealed that Rachel Taylor would play a character called Patricia "Trish" Walker, whom many hardcore Marvel fans know as a superhero in her own right named Hellcat. Walker and Jones aren't actually close in the comics, but we know that in the series they'll be good friends. Which is awesome, because Hellcat is amazing.
And, of course, Krysten Ritter is going to be amazing as Jessica herself.
Like Ritter's tragic character in "Breaking Bad," Jones will be forced to battle a lot of her own inner demons. We think she's more than up to the task.