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‘Jessica Jones’ Netflix Series To Feature Marvel’s First Lesbian Characters

Published on: October 16, 2015 at 7:48 AM ET
Val Powell
Written By Val Powell
News Writer

After the huge success of Marvel and Netflix’s first joint project, Daredevil , the two companies have decided to follow it up with another gritty superhero series.

Jessica Jones will begin airing on November 20 exclusively on Netflix, and the title role will be played by actress Krysten Ritter, who also starred in the hit AMC drama series Breaking Bad and the ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 .

Marvel’s Jessica Jones is a character that began as a superhero named Jewel, having been influenced by Peter Parker’s crime-fighting ways as Spiderman. In the comic books, Jones and Parker were former classmates, and she had a crush on him. Jones became Jewel after a chemical accident happened that also killed both her parents. In the accident, she gained superhuman strength, limited invulnerability, and the power of flight.

While she was a superhero, she encountered some troubles with the villain Purple Man, who assaulted her mentally and physically. As a result, the heroine had a change of heart and decided to leave her superhero identity.

Meanwhile, as Jones’ story begins in the series, she starts a detective agency, working with various people who are into crime fighting as well.

Mike Colter, who was cast as Agent Jameson Locke in Halo , will also join the show as the indestructible superhero Luke Cage, who is said to share an intimate and erotic relationship with Jones, just as they were in the comic book, Alias .

Luke Cage will reportedly have his own Netflix series in the near future, so his appearance in Jessica Jones could be a good starting point to promote it. Colter also mentioned previously that Jones’ character will be “a darker, grittier, more tangible character than Iron Man or Thor.”

Also included in the cast is Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer who previously worked with some street-level superheroes. What’s interesting about Moss’ character is that she is portraying a male character in the comics.

In a preview shown to some members of the media during the New York Comic-Con, Moss’s character was seen with a younger blonde woman, who people have speculated as her partner. This makes Jessica Jones the first Marvel series to feature an openly gay couple.

David Tennant from Doctor Who will be playing the series’ main antagonist, the Purple Man, who is also known as Soviet spy Zebediah Kilgrave in the comics. According to Tennant, the Purple Man will be a complex character as well, comparing it to Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin in Daredevil .

In an article written by Katharine Trendacosta of io9 , she said that she’s excited to see what the production team has done with the villain Kilgrave.

“The first episode creates a truly terrifying villain not by giving him a monologue, but showing the devastating effects he has,” she wrote. “There’s not a lot of exposition in Jessica Jones , but the atmosphere and the characterization makes threats feel very, very real.”

Also included in the series is Rachael Taylor from the Charlie’s Angels TV series reboot in 2011, who plays Jessica’s friend, Trish Walker. In the Marvel comics, Trish is also known as “Patsy” and was reimagined as Hellcat.

According to the report, Jessica Jones is only the second series from Marvel and Netflix in their upcoming string of stories based on the “The Defenders,” a group that consists of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

While all these heroes live in the same neighborhood, reports said that they might never get to meet each other (aside from Cage and Jones) until The Defenders .

Melissa Rosenberg is the series’ producer and writer, who has reportedly been working on the series since it was on ABC in 2010. Some of her previous works include The OC , Dexter , and The Twilight Saga .

[Image by Dave Kotinsky, Getty Images]

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