Fan anticipation is at all time high as the release date for Marvel’s Jessica Jones - set to be the darkest Marvel comics-based adaptation to date – draws closer. Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) will star as a super heroine turned private investigator that is battling her own personal demons.
Ritter is no stranger to the small screen, having held strong roles in the aforementioned shows, as well as Veronica Mars. Her film resume is not strong as however, seemingly stuck in the role of the ‘best friend’ of female leads in the likes of Confessions of a Shopaholic. From everything that we have heard or seen of Ritter, it’s safe to assume that the show is in good hands with this lead. Fans can expect to see their favorite Alias storyline making their way to Netflix.
Jessica Jones is relatively new to Marvel universe: in 2001 comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis was tasked with making Alias to headline as Marvel’s MAX series, which was aimed at more mature readers - completely uncensored and sometimes explicit. Brian initially wanted to use Jessica Drew (Spider Woman) for the lead role but in the end he decided to introduce a completely new character to the reader and thus Jessica Jones was born. Alias introduced Jessica as a private investigator who was once a super heroine known as Jewel, trying to escape her horrific past. Of course, a Marvel series wouldn’t be a Marvel series without some super-heroism, and so in Bendis’ story, Jones is constantly drawn back to the world she wishes to forget, with fragments of her past being revealed to the audience via flashbacks throughout the series.
In the comics, Jones’ retirement from heroism was the result of an eight month-long mind control of Zebediah Killgrave (The Purple Man), a former spy who has the power to verbally control the thoughts and actions of others. Purple Man forced Jessica to do just about everything he wanted. The comic series Alias picks up sometime after that and judging by the trailers Netflix series will do the same. The Purple Man will be played by David Tennant, known for his role in Doctor Who. I have a feeling that the Purple Man has more horrors in stored for us in the future as it has been speculated that the Purple Man will be bigger role in shared Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Joining Ritter will be Mike Colter who will portray Luke Cage aka Power Man (who will also be getting his own series in 2016). Mike is known for his roles in shows like The Good Wife and Ringer, as well as smaller parts in films such as Zero Dark Thirty and Men in Black 3. In comics, Cage joins Avengers and marries Jones and has a family with her, but we won’t be expecting that in the TV series for a long while yet.
Ritter and Colter will be joined by Carrie Anne Moss, who will play the gender-flipped role of Jeryn Hogarth, an attorney who later takes position at Cage’s Heroes for Hire. Moss’s induction in the cast of Jessica Jones has raised hopes that Cage’s partner Iron Fist will be joining Marvel’s Netflix universe sooner than later.
Jessica Jones is available on Netflix from Friday
