What To Expect From Marvel’s Netflix Series (And How They Can Make It Work)

Jessica Jones, another Brian Michael Bendis creation, first appeared in the award-winning 2001 series Alias and is easily the least well-known of the characters set to debut, yet also potentially the biggest hit. A former superheroine turned private-eye, Jessica is a far cry from Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vision of neatly pigeonholed female types. She’s conflicted, bitter and sleeps with the wrong guys. She fucks up.

Alias was unquestionably a series for adults, running under Marvel’s MAX imprint. With the character now under the watchful eye of Disney, it’s unlikely the profanity and anal sex is likely to make it to Netflix, but there’s much more to the character than that summarised earlier in this awkward self-referential sentence. She’s smart but not clever, brave but not invulnerable. There’s a lot to work with.

Jessica’s relationship with Luke Cage is a high point for both characters and culminates in their marriage the birth of their daughter, though the tease of the reveal of why Jones quit her identity as Jewel and resigned from the superhero game is probably the way to go for Netflix. Going the opposite way – having her quit over the course of the series – just seems like a bad decision to me, and the dramatic potential to be wrung out over ten or eleven episodes of wondering why is bound to draw folks into those all-important streaming binges.