The Marvel TV department and Netflix are finally coming to a close on their next joint project, Jessica Jones. Marvel has been quiet so far on details about the show, to the point of not yet releasing a full synopsis or logo. Thankfully, that looks to be changing soon.
The show is on track to finish filming in the next few weeks with only the assurance of a 2015 release. As Jessica Jones finishes production, people involved will be able to talk more in depth about what we will see in the thirteen episode adventure. This week, showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and President of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb revealed a few new details.
While speaking with a round-table of reporters and websites at TCA, including Collider, they were asked about the development of the show as well as it’s place in the universe.
Loeb: What makes Jessica Jones Jessica Jones is that it stands on its own. It lives in this world that we’ve created of Hell’s Kitchen and New York City, and it’s grounded, and she’s a real woman with real problems, and Melissa’s voice comes through in a way that Netflix not only allows to happen, but also really speaks to a different kind of story than the story we were originally telling.
Even though Jessica Jones is in the same universe as Daredevil, the shows will be very different. Here is what Rosenberg said about the tone differences,
It really comes down to the characters. 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. At her core, she does share something with Matt Murdock, and he’s a little more aware of it, that she wants to do something good. She wants to contribute to the world. But, there are a lot of personality issues for her that can get in the way.
Netflix gives Marvel the ability to create for adult based content, and as Daredevil showed, that can mean some very dark stories. Jessica Jones will share a dark story as well, but as Rosenberg and Loeb told Zap2It with it’s more about the characters.
Rosenberg: For me, what’s dark is where a character will go in their own psyche. It’s not necessarily about stripping someone’s clothes or pulling someone’s eyes out; it’s about how far can you let a character go. That’s what’s attractive about that is she can go to some very questionable places in her own psyche. That’s, to me, the darkness.
Loeb: How damaged is she and how the h— is she going to get through this day? The amount of tension that you feel when you watch each episode, we’re hoping that you’re uncomfortable. We hope that you’re just compelled to watch the next one because this is good stuff.
Unlike Daredevil, Jessica Jones will not don a costume and that means she will deal with evil she encounters in a very different way.
Rosenberg: Matt Murdock has been studying martial arts. He has extraordinary fighting skills. 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. She’s an extremely blunt, direct person, and that applies to the action, as well.
The show is called Jessica Jones, and she’s in every scene. We beat the crap out of her. You really get her strength of character, not in a noble way necessarily, but she’s a tough broad.
Jessica will be dealing with Kilgrave, a.k.a The Purple Man, throughout the season and Marvel is hoping that the audience feel for him just as we did with Kingpin.
Loeb: In the same kind of way that Vincent D’Onofrio owned his half of Daredevil, you’ll see David Tennant own his half of Jessica Jones. You’re continually finding this incredible balance. There are times when there are questions about what the villain is doing, 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.” That’s the magic of it.
One of the strengths of Daredevil was the ability to create captivating supporting characters like Claire Temple, Foggy Nelson, Ben Urich, and more. In Jessica Jones, the likes of Luke Cage, Trish Walker, and more will get their time to shine. Carrie Anne Moss was cast last year but her role was not officially revealed. She has been rumored to play a character named Harper, and while neither give more info, they do tease what we can expect.
Loeb: I think we should let folks discover that.
Rosenberg: I will say that she is an extraordinary actress. She’s so grounded and real. You’ve never seen her like this.
This will also mark the first appearance of Mike Colter as Luke Cage in the MCU, but even with his own show on the way, he is still a big part of the story for Jessica Jones according to Loeb.
This show offers him an opportunity for people to get to know him. He is important to the show, and he is certainly important to the story of Jessica Jones and who she is. It would not be Jessica Jones unless you at least understood how Luke affected her life and where she is. What’s wonderful about where it is, is that it’s still early on in this world. Who he is, what he’s doing, and where he is in his story allows us to tell a great deal of story that happens before, and a great deal of story that happens afterwards. You’re catching him not quite in the middle, but in the early part of the middle. So, when we get to start on the Luke Cage show, you will hopefully have watched Jessica, so that at least you know who Luke is, but his story and where he came from and, most importantly, where he’s going, is what that series is about. It will very much feel like you can watch that show and never have seen Jessica, but in the same way, there’s something about watching Jessica that makes it feel like the same world as Daredevil, but there’s nothing in it that makes you say, “I wish I had watched Daredevil to understand what’s going on.” It exists in its own way, in the same way that Daredevil exists in its own way. Luke Cage will be the same way, and so will Iron Fist. Each of them will be a way of introducing the characters to an audience, so that when they all do get together, you’ll have that same kind of magical experience, hopefully, that you had when you went to go see The Avengers.
We will also meet Patricia “Trish” Walker a.k.a Hellcat (Rachael Taylor) during the course of the show and it sounds like they will have a very fun and dynamic relationship as the show progresses according to Loeb.
What’s lovely is that, if you go all the way back to the 1950s, ‘cause that’s how long that character has been around, and you realize who Patsy Walker was and what it meant, and how she then grew up and went through the period of being a model, Melissa and the writers gave that history its own unique spin. I think that when people see it, they’ll recognize that it very much not only works for today’s audience, but also gave Rachael Taylor a real and grounded place. But what’s most important is the relationship between her and Jessica, and how these two women who are, in some ways, sisters, in terms of their friendship, could be that different, and yet believe in the same kinds of things. That question of, what is it to be a hero and the responsibilities that you have when you have abilities, is something that brings them together, but also continually pushes them apart. I think we’re very lucky to have Melissa as a writer because she really grasps the insight of what it is to have a friendship with a woman, and the way that two women can actually be competitive and friendly, and love each other and hate each other, and have a history with each other.
Jessica Jones should finish filming shortly which hopefully means some official content from Marvel such as a logo, release date, and more. Until that time, stay up to date on all things Jessica Jones here.
Jessica Jones is scheduled to debut exclusively on Netflix later this year.
