Jessica Jones (TV series)

Jessica Jones
File:Jessica Jones Netflix.jpg
Genre	Action Detective Drama Neo-noir Psychological thriller Superhero
Created by	Melissa Rosenberg
Based on	Jessica Jones by Brian Michael Bendis Michael Gaydos
Starring	Krysten Ritter Mike Colter Rachael Taylor Wil Traval Erin Moriarty Eka Darville Carrie-Anne Moss David Tennant
Composer	Sean Callery
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	S. J. Clarkson (1x01 only) Liz Friedman Allie Goss Kris Henigman Cindy Holland Alan Fine Stan Lee Joe Quesada Dan Buckley Jim Chory Jeph Loeb Melissa Rosenberg
Producer	Tim Iacofano
Production location	New York City
Cinematography	Manuel Billeter
Editors	Jonathan Chibnall Michael N. Knue Tirsa Hackshaw
Running time	46–55 minutes
Production companies	Marvel Television ABC Studios Tall Girls Productions
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Related
Marvel Cinematic Universe television series

Marvel's Jessica Jones, or simply Jessica Jones, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is the second in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Rosenberg serving as showrunner.

Krysten Ritter stars as Jessica Jones, a former superhero who opens her own detective agency after an end to her superhero career. Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, Wil Traval, Erin Moriarty, Eka Darville, Carrie-Anne Moss, and David Tennant also star. A version of the series was originally in development by Rosenberg for ABC in 2010, that was eventually passed on. By late 2013, Rosenberg reworked the series, when it reentered development for Netflix as A.K.A. Jessica Jones. Ritter was cast as Jones in December 2014, with production on Jessica Jones beginning in New York City in February 2015 and lasting until late August.

All episodes premiered November 20, 2015, on Netflix. The series has received positive critical reception, noting Ritter's and Tennant's performances as well as the series' noir tone, approach to sexuality and coverage of darker topics such as rape, assault and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Premise

Following a tragic end to her brief superhero career, Jessica Jones tries to rebuild her life as a private investigator, dealing with cases involving people with remarkable abilities in New York City.

Cast and characters

Cast of Jessica Jones at the 2015 New York Comic Con. (L to R: Ritter, Colter, Taylor, Moss, Traval, Darville, Moriarty)

Main

• Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones:

A former superhero with the abilities of superhuman strength and flight, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who opens her own detective agency, Alias Investigations. Executive producer and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg had Ritter on the top of her list for playing Jones, even when Rosenberg was developing the series for ABC. Ritter stated that she read through Alias in preparation for the role and expressed delight in working with Rosenberg. On adapting the character from the comics, Jeph Loeb stated, "Jessica Jones [i]s based on a much more adult comic. The source material came that way. She has real problems with a number of things that she abuses! And we’re not shying away from that. There’s no tidying her up." Ritter called playing the character the "biggest acting challenge" in her career and praised the character development. She explained that when she was playing the character, she took "a lot from the comics because she’s so well-drawn. We have some lines that are pulled from the comics, but then the script—she’s as developed for television as she is in the comics". Ritter put on 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of muscle for the role and trained for two months before filming began.

Ritter described the character, saying that "she goes about things in a very odd way, she’s very rough around the edges, and dry and sarcastic and a total asshole sometimes. But I think at her core she’s a good person." Comparing the character to Matt Murdock in Marvel's Daredevil, Rosenberg said, "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. ... 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." Elizabeth Cappuccino portrayed a young Jessica.

• Mike Colter as Luke Cage:

A man with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, with a mysterious past that Jones encounters in the course of an investigation and who changes her life immensely. Colter signed on for the series, and others, without reading any scripts, and was drawn to the series because of its opportunity to have character exploration, which he felt was lacking in the MCU films. Additionally, he put on 30 pounds (14 kg) of muscle for the role. Colter described Cage as "a neighbourhood hero, very much linked to New York and Jessica Jones. [He] is a darker, grittier, more tangible character than Iron Man or Thor. He likes to keep things close to his chest, operate on the hush-hush. He has these abilities but he’s not sure how and when to use them." Loeb said the character "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." He also added that the series sees Luke Cage "not quite in the middle, but in the early part of the middle" of his story, and that Marvel's Luke Cage allows Marvel to "tell a great deal of story that happens before, and a great deal of story that happens afterwards." On introducing the character in this series, Rosenberg noted that because Cage has his own series to explore who he is, she represents him as "a man of few words" rather than trying to say anything about who he is in particular.

• Rachael Taylor as Patricia "Trish" Walker:

A former model and child star known as "Patsy" who is Jones' adoptive sister and best friend, who now works as a radio host. The role of Jones' best friend was intended for Carol Danvers when Rosenberg was developing the series at ABC, but was changed to Walker due to the changing nature of the MCU and that Danvers would appear in her own film. Rosenberg ultimately found this to be "much more appropriate...it was better that [Jessica's] best friend was not someone with powers. It actually ends up being a really great mirror for her." Speaking about the character, Loeb said, "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." Catherine Blades portrayed a young Trish.

• Wil Traval as Will Simpson:

An NYPD sergeant who is very serious about his job. Traval felt that Simpson sees everything in "black and white" and that "justice can be served easily," an opposite to Jessica, who "deals in a world of gray" that causes the two to have friction between them. Traval described the character as "reinvented" and "reshaped" for the series from the one in the comics, as the comic character was "a little bit too hard to handle. [H]e was just a psychotic crazy guy."

• Erin Moriarty as Hope Shlottman:

A student-athlete attending New York University who is a client of Alias Investigations. Moriarty called her character a "polar opposite" to Jessica Jones, describing Hope as "an all-American girl, [innocent and] really earnest". Over the course of the series, the two form a bond, with Jessica becoming protective of Hope, due to a shared experience they have with Kilgrave.

• Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse:

Jones' neighbor who struggles with drug addiction, resulting in his personal journey intertwining with hers. Darville stated Malcolm was a new character for the series, though inspired by "seed characters" from the comics. He also felt playing the character with the drug addiction "was pretty intense and dark" and that Malcolm's relationship with Jessica "is like a flip-flop between victim and savior... much more [sibling-like] than anything else."

• Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth:

An attorney and potentially powerful ally to Jones, who hires Jones for cases. The gender of the character was changed from male to female for the series, and the character was made a lesbian. Moss signed on to the series after reading the first two scripts, having been pitched the character by Loeb and Rosenberg. Moss described the character by saying that "she’s fierce, she’s strong, she’s powerful, and she likes that power." She worked "a few days every episode", which allowed her to grow the character throughout the series, while not knowing what the character would become as she played each moment, which she noted was how real-life is.

• David Tennant as Kilgrave:

A mysterious man from Jones's past, who can control minds, and whose reappearance shakes up her life. He was born Kevin Thompson and was experimented on as a young child, which resulted in him acquiring an airborne virus that gave him his powers. Loeb called him "a terrible man who doesn’t see himself as terrible" and compared him to Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, saying "there are going to be times [watching Daredevil] when you’re uncomfortable because you’re not quite rooting for Matt, you’re kind of rooting for Wilson, and it’s the same kind of thing you’re going to find in Jessica. There’s going to be moments where some of the things that she does is pretty questionable. And some of the things that, when you learn about Kilgrave’s character and the way that David Tennant plays that character, it’s really extraordinary." Rosenberg stated that Tennant was the choice for the character when the series was originally developed for ABC, but he was unavailable at that time, so the production made sure to "jump on him" when the series moved to Netflix. James Freedson-Jackson portrayed a young Kilgrave.

Recurring

• Susie Abromeit as Pam: Jeri Hogarth's assistant and lover.
• Lisa Emery as Louise Thompson: Kilgrave's mother.
• Ryan Farrell as Jackson: A victim of Kilgrave, who becomes a member of a support group established by Jessica.
• Danielle Ferland as Clair: A cellist and victim of Kilgrave, who becomes a member of a support group established by Jessica.
• Gillian Glasco as Emma: An actress and victim of Kilgrave, who becomes a member of a support group established by Jessica.
• Colby Minifie as Robyn: Jessica's upstairs neighbor and twin sister of Ruben.
• Kieran Mulcare as Ruben: Jessica's upstairs neighbor and twin brother of Robyn.
• Clarke Peters as Oscar Clemons: An NYPD detective.
• Paul Pryce as Donald: A victim of Kilgrave, who becomes a member of a support group established by Jessica.
• Michael Siberry as Albert Thompson: Kilgrave's father.
• Robin Weigert as Wendy Ross-Hogarth: A doctor and Jeri Hogarth's wife, whom Hogarth is divorcing.
• Nichole Yannetty as Nicole: An intern on Trish's talk show.

Guest

• James Colby as Brian Jones: Jessica's father.
• Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple: A nurse in Hell's Kitchen. Dawson reprises her role from Daredevil.
• Rebecca De Mornay as Dorothy Walker: Trish's abusive mother.
• Parisa Fitz-Henley as Reva Connors: Luke Cage's late wife, who was killed by Jessica under Kilgrave's control.
• Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney: A sergeant in the NYPD. Johnson reprises his role from Daredevil.
• Thomas Kopache as Kozlov: A doctor who ran the program that gave Simpson his experimental pills.
• Billy McFadden as Phillip Jones: Jessica's younger brother.
• Joseph Ragno as Roy Healy: A bartender working for Cage.
• Miriam Shor as Alisa Jones: Jessica's mother.

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance through an on-set photograph, the same one seen in Daredevil.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"AKA Ladies Night"	S. J. Clarkson	Melissa Rosenberg	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Jessica Jones, an alcoholic private investigator "gifted" with superhuman strength and flight, delivers a subpoena to strip-club owner Gregory Spheeris for lawyer Jeri Hogarth (who is having an affair with her assistant Pam behind the back of her wife Wendy Ross-Hogarth), exposing her abilities to him in the process. While not working, Jones spies on Luke Cage, a bar owner who sees her looking into his bar and offers her free alcohol as a "Ladies Night" promotion, leading to the two sleeping together. She leaves upset after seeing a photo of a woman in his bathroom. Jones is approached by Barbara and Bob Shlottman after their daughter Hope began acting differently and disappeared. While investigating, Jones discovers that Hope is with Kilgrave, a man with mind control abilities whose time controlling Jones gave her PTSD, and whom she believed was dead. Jones wants to flee, but is convinced by her friend and foster-sister Trish Walker to help Hope. Jones finds her, but Kilgrave's hold is still over Hope, and she murders her parents.
2	"AKA Crush Syndrome"	S. J. Clarkson	Micah Schraft	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Jones is investigated by Detective Oscar Clemons, who discovers photos she took of Cage. Jones lies to Cage that she had been hired by the husband of a woman who Cage had slept with. Cage, having not known that the woman was married, confronts her about it, and when she goes to her husband, he attacks Cage with a group. Jones helps fight off the men, and learns that Cage is gifted with unbreakable skin. Hogarth agrees to represent Shlottman if Jones can prove that Kilgrave exists. Jones remembers leaving Kilgrave to die after he was hit by a bus and she starts her search from there. While looking through newspaper clippings about the bus accident, she sees a picture of a woman who had died in the crash... the same picture Cage had in his medicine cabinet. Jones manages to track down the ambulance driver who had picked up Kilgrave after the accident. The driver had donated both his kidneys to Kilgrave, and is now on dialysis. Jones finds the operating doctor who anonymously donated the dialysis machine. He agrees to testify for Shlottman, and reveals that he operated on Kilgrave without anesthesia since that would have blocked Kilgrave's abilities. When Hogarth meets with Shlottman, the latter reveals that Jones was once under Kilgrave's control as well.
3	"AKA It's Called Whiskey"	David Petrarca	Story by : Liz Friedman Teleplay by : Liz Friedman & Scott Reynolds	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
4	"AKA 99 Friends"	David Petrarca	Hilly Hicks, Jr.	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
5	"AKA The Sandwich Saved Me"	Stephen Surjik	Dana Baratta	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
6	"AKA You're a Winner!"	Stephen Surjik	Edward Ricourt	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
7	"AKA Top Shelf Perverts"	Simon Cellan Jones	Jenna Reback & Micah Schraft	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
8	"AKA WWJD?"	Simon Cellan Jones	Scott Reynolds	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
9	"AKA Sin Bin"	John Dahl	Jamie King & Dana Baratta	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Kilgrave is kept prisoner inside a heavily secure containment unit, while Jessica tortures and interrogates him from the outside. The cell has several inches of water with wires going into it, so a button can send an electrical shock. Hogarth arrives and informs Jessica that the D.A. has offered a 20 year plea deal for Hope if she pleads guilty. Determined to extract a confession from Kilgrave, Jessica consults NYPD detective Clemons, who requests video evidence. Jessica attempts to film herself attacking Kilgrave to provoke him into controlling her, but to no avail. Jessica and Trish eventually uncover a lead on Kilgrave's parents, and Jessica tells Hope to hold off on the plea deal as she's very close to getting Kilgrave convicted. At the support group meeting for Kilgrave victims, Jessica finds Kilgrave's mother, Louise, and follows her home. She commands Louise and her husband Albert to assist with Kilgrave's confession as it is their "responsibility". The parents reveal that Kevin was born with a neural disease that could be cured with an experimental virus, and eventually fell prey to their son's control for years before abandoning him out of fear. At the containment unit, Clemons arrives after Hogarth sends him a video of Jessica attacking Kilgrave, but is cuffed to a wall while Jessica brings in Kilgrave's parents. They attempt to console their son inside his cell, but in reality his mother was intending to kill him all along, and stabs him in the neck with scissors. In retaliation, Kilgrave orders his mother to stab herself for every year she abandoned him. The others try to stop them by pressing the shock button, but it turned out that Hogarth had cut the wires. A panic breaks out and Trish shoots at Kilgrave, breaking the glass and opening everyone to his control. Kilgrave attempts to have his father kill himself while escaping the area. Kilgrave escapes, but Jessica suddenly realizes that she is immune to his control.
10	"AKA 1,000 Cuts"	Rosemary Rodriguez	Dana Baratta & Micah Schraft	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
11	"AKA I've Got the Blues"	Uta Briesewitz	Scott Reynolds & Liz Friedman	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
12	"AKA Take a Bloody Number"	Billy Gierhart	Hilly Hicks, Jr.	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Luke reveals to Jessica that he was ordered by Kilgrave to destroy his bar, and recounts the events leading up to it. The two go in search of leads to Kilgrave and his father, who Kilgrave is using to concoct a way to control Jessica again. Luke tells Jessica that it was wrong to blame her for Reva's death and that he forgives her. Trish's mother, meanwhile, visits her with a file on a company called "IGH", which was responsible for providing Simpson with his pills, and also paid for Jessica's medical care following her childhood accident. Luke and Jessica eventually find a nightclub which Kilgrave was using to test his enhanced powers on an audience. While they look for video footage, Kilgrave appears and reveals that Luke has been under his control the whole time in order to lie to Jessica that he has forgiven her. Kilgrave unleashes Luke on Jessica and escapes while the two fight. The fight culminates in Jessica shooting Luke in the head with a police shotgun.
13	"AKA Smile"	Michael Rymer	Story by : Jamie King & Scott Reynolds Teleplay by : Scott Reynolds & Melissa Rosenberg	November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
Claire Temple, after treating Luke for injuries, sees he is superhuman and helps Jessica move him to her apartment for treatment. Kilgrave's powers have reached a powerful new threshold and he is willing to use it to end Jessica however he can. Trish tells Jessica she may have found a clue to how she got her powers. As Jessica and Trish track down Kilgrave, he uses his greatly enhanced power to control a crowd and, unsure whether he can also exert his powers on Jessica, opts to make Trish his sex slave to punish Jessica. Jessica appears to accept this under Kilgrave's commands, but as he approaches her and asks to her smile, she demonstrates she is still immune to his influence. Jessica snaps his neck, freeing everyone, including Luke, from his spell. Jessica is arrested for the murder but Jeri, acting as her lawyer, secures her release. Word of Jessica's heroics begin to reach the population of the city, and she begins to get calls asking for her assistance.

Production

Development

In December 2010, it was revealed that Melissa Rosenberg was developing AKA Jessica Jones, based on the comic book series Alias and centered on Jessica Jones, for ABC under her new production banner of Tall Girls Productions along with ABC Studios and Marvel Television, intended to air in 2011 of the 2011–12 television season. The series would include Jeph Loeb, Joe Quesada, Alan Fine and Howard Klein as executive producers, with Alias writer Brian Michael Bendis serving as a consultant. At San Diego Comic-Con International 2011, Loeb stated the series was "about a failed superhero who is rebuilding her life as a private detective in New York City,” and would include Carol Danvers and Luke Cage. In November 2011, Rosenberg said the show was "hoping to get on the schedule for" 2012 of the 2012–13 television season. Rosenberg added, "I love this character. That is an incredibly damaged, dark, complex female character that kicks ass... [she is] a former superhero with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder." She also stated that, while Cage was a part of the series, the couple's daughter, Danielle, would appear "way down the road." Later in the month, Rosenberg said that the series would acknowledge the existence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with references to Tony Stark and Stark Industries in the pilot script, but admitted that "As we go along things will alter in terms of what is made available to us, but we're definitely in that universe. We are in no way denying that that universe exists. And as much as I can I'm going to pull everything in from there that I can use". She also noted that Danvers would appear in the series as a principal character.

In May 2012, ABC president Paul Lee said the network had passed on the series. Later that year, Rosenberg stated that the show was being shopped around to other networks, saying "I don’t know if it’s an ABC show. It might be a cable show, really. The [Alias] graphic novel is the first one that Marvel did that was meant to serve an adult audience. I toned it down a little bit for network, but it’s very, very easy to translate that into cable. Very easy." In October 2013, Deadline reported that Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries, totaling 60 episodes, to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest. A few weeks later, Marvel and Disney announced that they would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders. Rosenberg was brought on to write and produce the new incarnation of the series, to be reconfigured from the original project, which she called a "page one do-over" from her original vision. Liz Friedman also serves as an executive producer on the series. In December 2014, the official title was revealed to be Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones. However, in June 2015, Marvel revealed that the title for the series would be shortened to Marvel's Jessica Jones. On why the title was shortened, Loeb said, "It literally just became one of those things that happens. We had talked about whether that was the best title for it, and that’s how it happened." Rosenberg added that the "AKA" is "living in the episodes. You'll still see it."

In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" in terms of determining if additional seasons would be appropriate. In July 2015, Sarandos said some of the Defenders series would "selectively have multiple seasons as they come out of the gate," with Rosenberg saying she was hopeful Jessica Jones would get an additional season before the Defenders miniseries. Rosenberg later expanded on this, saying that Marvel and Netflix were working out the placement of a potential second season, though "[i]t might not be possible from a logistical standpoint" to have a second season of Jessica Jones debut before the Defenders miniseries. Rosenberg hoped to "further expand on the ensemble and on Jessica’s world" in a second season.

Writing

[We are] very aware this is the first female superhero Marvel’s ever introduced as a lead. But there was never the intention of, “this is an issue series, we’re dealing with issues.” While issues of sexual assault and women in power are all issues that I certainly feel very passionately about taking on, the show’s all about exploring the inner workings of Jessica Jones and her ensemble.

—Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg on the series' approach to "issues".

The writers for the series worked in Los Angeles, with one member of the writing team on set in New York for filming. Actress Carrie-Anne Moss talked about how the scripts developed through the production of the series, explaining that the dialogue usually did not change much while filming, but scenes were altered to accommodate the filming locations when necessary.

Rosenberg talked about the freedom that the series had, saying that it would go "even further in all our storytelling" than what Brian Michael Bendis did in the Alias comic saying, "That's the beauty of working with Netflix. It's 13 [episodes]. There's no pilot and then getting feedback, reaction and ratings. You're in this bubble. So, what's the story you want to tell? Where do you want to go with [the characters]?" Expanding on this, Rosenberg said that "we start off with [Bendis'] incredible source material and Jessica Jones isn’t as well known in the universe obviously as Daredevil and everyone else, so it really allows for a lot of freedom in there. So there are restrictions in terms of the Marvel [Cinematic U]niverse of certain rules of mythology, but within that it’s free pass". Rosenberg noted that the final series was very different to the version she developed for ABC because of the different mythology of the MCU.

Describing the tone of the series in July 2015, Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb said, "When we first started talking about Daredevil, we promised that we were telling a story that was first a crime drama and then a superhero show. This is more of a psychological thriller. This speaks to when you think about what happened to Jessica and what sort of destroyed her life and how she tried to put it together, and then to have to confront the person who deconstructed her world, that’s a very powerful, emotional place to start from." At the end of the month, Rosenberg stated that, since Jones is a private investigator, there would be some procedural elements to the show, "but that’s not our focus. There are cases. In particular, there is a large case that carries over the season." Elaborating on this, Loeb said that the "fun about being a private detective is that the line between what’s legal and what’s not legal gets very blurred....her drive is not always necessarily to solve the case, as much as it is to go, 'Okay, can I pay the rent? How am I going to get through this day?'" He also added that inspiration for the series came from "the noir films from the ‘40s" and "film[s] like Chinatown."

When asked about the adult nature of the series, including the use of sex, Rosenberg explained that Marvel would only not allow showing nudity and the use of the word 'fuck' in the series. On approaching rape and trauma in the series, Rosenberg wanted to avoid actually showing rape, which she called "lazy storytelling" and often a way to "spice up" male characters, and preferred to just make the trauma a part of the characters' everyday lives rather than an "issue" for the series to tackle.

Casting

In August 2014, Sarandos said on the status of the show, "Right now, the writers’ rooms are open and they’re looking at casting Jessica." By November 2014, Krysten Ritter, Alexandra Daddario, Teresa Palmer, Jessica De Gouw and Marin Ireland were being tested for the role of Jessica Jones, with Ritter having been auditioning since October. Additionally, Lance Gross, Mike Colter and Cleo Anthony were in contention for the role of Luke Cage, which was envisioned as a recurring role in the series before headlining Luke Cage. In December 2014, Ritter was cast as Jessica Jones. Ritter and Palmer had been the final candidates for the role, with both auditioning opposite Colter to test chemistry. Later in the month, Colter was confirmed as Luke Cage. The next month, David Tennant was cast as Kilgrave and Rachael Taylor was cast as Patricia "Trish" Walker. In early February 2015, Moss was cast, with her role revealed that October to be a female version of male comic book character Jeryn Hogarth. Also in the month, Eka Darville, Erin Moriarty, and Wil Traval were cast as Malcolm Ducasse, Hope Shlottman, and Will Simpson, respectively.

Cast in recurring roles are Susie Abromeit as Pam, Colby Minifie and Kieran Mulcare as Robyn and Ruben, Clarke Peters as Oscar Clemons, Michael Siberry as Albert Thompson, and Robin Weigert as Wendy Ross-Hogarth. Rosario Dawson and Royce Johnson reprise their roles of Claire Temple and Brett Mahoney from Daredevil.

Design

Costumes

Stephanie Maslansky, the costume designer for Daredevil, serves as costume designer for Jessica Jones as well. Maslansky was assisted on the first episode by Jenn Rogien, who crafted Jessica Jones' leather jacket, faded jeans, and boots costume. On Jessica's costume, Maslansky said she "considers her clothing to be an armor and a shield and something that helps her maintain a distance from other people and privacy. It keeps her from having to deal with the rest of humanity in a certain sort of way." At least 10 versions of Jessica's jacket were made, which started as an Acne Studios leather motorcycle jacket that had any "bells and whistles and any additional superfluous design details" removed, while 20 pairs of jeans were used, with both being aged and distressed. Maslansky, who originally was planning to custom-make Kilgrave's wardrobe, used many suits created by designer Paul Smith from the previous fashion season for him, as Smith "was all about purple." On his outfits, Maslansky added the designers "wanted to find a place where we could utilize clothing in shades of purple, but not go so over the top that it would look silly and that he would stop feeling ominous or menacing." For Luke Cage, Maslansky felt he was also someone "who wears his clothing like an armor," with his wardrobe consisting of T-shirts, jeans, leather jackets or an army jacket.

Title sequence

External videos
The opening title sequence of Jessica Jones, showcasing David Mack's artwork and composer Sean Callery's main theme for the series.

The series' title sequence, created by Imaginary Forces, features artwork by David Mack, the cover artist for the original Alias comic. The design incorporates the jazz-style theme from composer Sean Callery mixed with Mack's art, "taking [the viewer] around seedier, noir-esque corners of Hell’s Kitchen, as if through Jessica’s eyes themselves."

Filming

In February 2014, Marvel announced that Jessica Jones would be filmed in New York City. In April 2014, Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stated that the show would be filming in areas of Brooklyn and Long Island City that still look like the old Hell’s Kitchen, in addition to sound stage work. The series went into production in February 2015 in The Bronx at Lehman College with the working title Violet, and concluded in mid-late August. Concerning inspirations on the series, Loeb revealed that "Chinatown... is one of the things that influenced Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos when they created the character. So those kind of beautiful, long, wide expansive shots, where people sort of come into frame and go back out of frame and someone’s in the foreground and then someone is way in the background and they’re having a conversation, that’s the stuff that makes it interesting."

Music

At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, Sean Callery revealed he was composing the music for the series.

Visual effects

Visual effects for the series were completed by the New York studio Shade VFX, who also worked on Daredevil. Bryan Godwin serves as visual effects supervisor.

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

Jessica Jones is the second of the ordered Netflix series, after Daredevil, and will be followed by Luke Cage, and Marvel's Iron Fist, before leading into the miniseries, Marvel's The Defenders. In November 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that, if the characters prove popular on Netflix, “It’s quite possible that they could become feature films," which Sarandos echoed in July 2015. In August 2014, Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, stated that after the "series stuff with Netflix", Marvel has "a bigger plan to branch out". In March 2015, Loeb spoke on the ability for the series to crossover with the MCU films and the ABC television series, saying, "It all exists in the same universe. As it is now, in the same way that our films started out as self-contained and then by the time we got to The Avengers, it became more practical for Captain America to do a little crossover into Thor 2 and for Bruce Banner to appear at the end of Iron Man 3. We have to earn that. The audience needs to understand who all of these characters are and what the world is before you then start co-mingling in terms of where it's going."

On specific crossovers with Daredevil, which had completed its first season by the time Jessica Jones began casting, Loeb said "they’re in the same area. In some cases they are in the same neighborhood. One of the things that is important to us is, when you enter the police station, it’s the same police station. When you go to the hospital, you start to see the same people. [But] we don’t want people suddenly going, "Wait, is that Matt Murdock that’s walking down the street?" Because that’s going to feel odd, and in a weird way feel false." On existing in the MCU, specifically in the same world as the other Netflix series, Rosenberg said, "Jessica Jones is a very, very different show than Daredevil. We exist in a cinematic universe, [and] the mythology of the universe is connected, but they look very different, tonally they’re very different… That was my one concern coming in: Am I going to have to fit into Daredevil or what’s come before? And the answer is no."

On references or "easter eggs" in the series, Rosenberg explained that "A little is always there and in the writer’s room we have some fanboys that know all this stuff and they’re all geeking out with different stuff....a lot of references are to the [Alias comic]." She also said that nods to the larger MCU are in the series, with each episode having a "little something in it." Jeryn Hogarth is closely associated with Iron Fist in the comics, and also worked with Luke Cage as part of those characters' Heroes for Hire team. Like Daredevil, the series makes references to the events of The Avengers and the Avengers (specifically Hulk and Captain America, though not by name). Jessica also mentions Angela del Toro as another private investigator, who in the comics is the hero White Tiger and has connections with K'un-Lun and Iron Fist. Paul Tassi, writing for Forbes, was disappointed with how the series fit into the larger MCU, feeling the series seemed "so far removed from the world of The Avengers, it might as well not be in the same universe at all....what’s even weirder is how Jessica Jones almost refuses to acknowledge Daredevil at all, despite the fact that it’s supposed to be sharing at least this little corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with it."

Release

Jessica Jones was released on November 20, 2015 on the streaming service Netflix, in all territories where it is available, in Ultra HD 4K. The 13 hour-long episodes were released simultaneously, as opposed to a serialized format, to encourage binge-watching, a format which has been successful for other Netflix series. In January 2015, a month after Marvel announced a 2015 release for the series, Sarandos said it was "too hard to say now" if the series would release in 2015, with Netflix's plan to release a Marvel series approximately a year apart from each other after Daredevil's April 2015 release. In July 2015, Netflix confirmed the series would release in 2015, later announcing a November 20, 2015 release date in September 2015.

Marketing

Disney Consumer Products created a small line of products to cater to a more adult audience, given the show’s edgier tone. Paul Gitter, senior VP of Marvel Licensing for Disney Consumer Products explained that the focus would be more on teens and adults than very young people, with products at outlets like Hot Topic. Additionally, a Marvel Knights merchandise program was created to support the series, which creates new opportunities for individual product lines and collector focused products. Licensing partners wanted to pair up with Marvel, despite this not being a film project, given its previous successes.

In May 2015, Marvel announced plans to reprint Alias, the comic that the series is based on, with new covers from David Mack, the original cover artist on the comic who is also providing artwork for the series' opening credits. The reprints, which were all released digitally in June 2015, and up to issue 15 in two trade paperbacks in September, are intended to both celebrate the history of Jessica Jones, and introduce new audiences to the character ahead of the release of the series. In late September 2015 through early October, Marvel and Netflix released short teasers for the series, which chronicled a day of Jones' life. Also in early October, Marvel released digitally a 12-page one-shot comic by the original Alias creative team, Bendis, Gaydos and Mack, set in the universe of the television series. The one-shot was created as an exclusive for New York Comic Con, where a print version was distributed. The comic sees Jessica Jones visiting Turk Barrett in the hospital to collect money for one of his baby mamas. Barrett is in the hospital because of the "devil of Hell's Kitchen", which is the first Jones is hearing about him. Also during New York Comic Con, Marvel set up a street marketing campaign, and screened "AKA Ladies Night" on October 10, while at the Marvel Booth, fans could take their picture with the Alias Investigations desk, with Kilgrave's eyes appearing in the background of the final animation. Marvel also partnered with Uber during New York Comic Con to provide select riders with complimentary trips to or from the convention in custom designed SUVs for the series.

At the end of October, a full trailer was released. Meagan Damore of Comic Book Resources felt the trailer helped establish the same tone as Daredevil and introduced "Marvel's creepiest villain yet" with Kilgrave. She also compared Jessica to some of the other female characters of the MCU—Black Widow, Melinda May and Peggy Carter—feeling that Jessica stood out from the others because she does not have "a sense of togetherness" and was the most relatable because of her struggle with her trauma, and that the series would have ample amount of creative space to explore the character that the other female characters were lacking. On November 10, 2015, a second trailer was released. Sarene Leeds of The Wall Street Journal felt that this trailer highlighted empowerment, compared to the first that "was about illustrating the fear behind Jones’s past". On November 17, the series held its premiere in New York City.

Reception

Critical reception

Krysten Ritter (top) and David Tennant (bottom) received near universal praise for their portrayals of Jessica Jones and Kilgrave, respectively, with Ritter able to "display her impressive range" to give "an exceptional performance" and Tennant being called "a horrific joy to behold".

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 50 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Jessica Jones builds a multifaceted drama around its engaging antihero, delivering what might be Marvel's strongest TV franchise to date." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 81 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating what the website considers to be "universal acclaim".

The early screening of the first episode at New York Comic Con was met to a very positive reaction from the crowd. George Marston of Newsarama gave the first episode a 10 out of 10, saying the series "strikes a balance between self-aware noir and Marvel’s first flirtations with psychological horror....not just another hit for Marvel and Netflix, but a landmark moment for female superheroes on TV." Eric Goldman of IGN felt that "Jessica Jones starts out with a strong premiere episode that...easily goes further than anything in the MCU in terms of sexuality." He called Ritter "a commendably tough, sardonic" Jessica Jones and praised the supporting cast for the strong impressions they made, later scoring the episode an 8.5 out of 10. Evan Valentine of Collider.com gave the episode 5 stars out of 5, feeling that Tennant would "ascend to the same level as Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Vincent D’onfrio’s Wilson Fisk as one of the cornerstones of villainy in the MCU". Katharine Trendacosta of io9 also had positive thoughts on "AKA Ladies Night", highlighting the episode's use of light and color, especially with purple, and the way it portrays New York as how it "actually looks—not overly bright and shiny and clean, but not suffering a never-ending power-outage either". Abraham Riesman noted the episode's presentation of sexuality, which "was shockingly and refreshingly honest", compared to Marvel's other films and television series. He concluded by applauding the series' bringing up of the topics of rape and PTSD.

Reviewing the first seven episodes of the series, Maureen Ryan of Variety gave positive thoughts on Jessica Jones, stating, "The show, which features an exceptional performance from Krysten Ritter and sure-handed guidance from executive producer Melissa Rosenberg, is not just a contender for the title Best Marvel-related TV property; in a supremely crowded TV scene, it is one of the year’s most distinctive new dramas." Jack Shepard of The Independent, also on the first seven episodes, felt the series "not only matches [Daredevil] but exceeds expectations." Shepard gave exceptional praise to Tennant's Kilgrave, feeling he was one of the best villains produced by Marvel, and possibly "the best on-screen comic book villain since Heath Ledger’s Joker." Forbes' Merrill Barr stated that after seeing the first seven episodes, "the answer is a resounding yes" if lightning could strike twice for Marvel Television, claiming, "In no uncertain terms, Jessica Jones is the best thing Marvel Television has ever produced. It contains all the hopeful anticipation of [Agents of ] S.H.I.E.L.D., all the feminist-overtones of Agent Carter and all the grittiness of Daredevil."

Deadline.com's Dominic Patten also had praise for the series, particularly Rosenberg's influence on the series, the coverage of topics such as "PTSD, abuse, assault, shame, and death" and the cast, highlighting Tennant's Kilgrave as Tennant's best role as well as the MCU's best villain. Mary McNamara from the Los Angeles Times felt Jessica Jones "rewrote the definition of superhuman" and was "a marvel", lauding the series' "breathtaking" examination of recovery from a sexually, emotionally and physically abusive relationship. Daniel Fienberg for The Hollywood Reporter was also positive, saying the series "looks and feels a bit like a cable anti-hero series — but it's really more of a post-hero story, making it fascinating and unique in a marketplace that doesn't lack for costumed do-gooders of all types." His one criticism was that "the show shares Jessica's monomaniacal fixation on [Kilgrave] and the result is a sort of narrative claustrophobia... Everything in these opening episodes ties back to Kilgrave and Kilgrave is such a twisted figure that it's hard for any light to get in." Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly was slightly more critical of the series, awarding it a "B". Though Maerz felt Ritter was a good choice for Jessica and enjoyed the cinematography, ultimately she felt the series "could've made for a gritty character drama if it weren't for the noir clichés (saxophone music, shadows through glass) and a procedural structure that's very CSI: Marvel. The show's biggest weakness is the same as Jessica's: It starts out with extraordinary potential, but somewhere along the way, it loses what make it special."

Goldman, later reviewing the whole season, gave it a 9.3 out of 10. He commended all the actors, the relationship of Jessica and Trish, and the episode "Sin Bin", though was critical of the character Robyn. Additionally, Goldman also felt the series spent "too many scenes devoted to Jeri’s marital strife" and that it hit its peak "a bit before the actual end of the season" similar to Daredevil, with most of the thrilling moments earlier in the season.

Analysis

Libby Hill of the Los Angeles Times commented on how Jessica Jones exposed modern day sexism and misogyny through Kilgrave's use of the phrase "Smile", calling the series "the most innocuous and incisive cultural critique" from Marvel to date. Hill likened an early scene that shows Kilgrave asking Jones to smile, and her obliging, to "similar well-meaning scenarios [that] play out in the real world time and again each day" many in the form of gendered street harassment, that resonates with many women. Hill also added that "Kilgrave serves as an exaggerated representation of perceived consent," due to the response he gives later in the series to Jessica about never knowing if someone is doing what they want or what he tells them to do. She concludes that "Jessica Jones is revolutionary because in acknowledging casual misogyny and exaggerating its most destructive tendencies, it exposes the pervasive toxicity therein. It does all of this without making a show of its politics, instead resting easy on the knowledge that all too many women will relate to the subtleties of its premise."

Kwame Opam of The Verge chose to examine rape and the nature of consent in the series. Comparing Jessica Jones to other television series that have depicted rape (Game of Thrones, Orange is the New Black and Outlander), Opam felt that "since rape is one of the show’s core themes, we never need to see it... rape is a foundational part of the text, and its presence is constant. Even if it’s invisible, it’s always there." He also felt the series took the time to examine how rape happens and what it means, especially in terms of power and consent, concluding, "Jessica Jones moves the conversation about rape forward by treating it as a complex subject worth investigating, rather than as spice for a story... Maybe we don’t need to see it anymore to grasp how violent it is. Maybe our energies are better spent thinking deeply about why it happens at all."

Other media

In November 2015, an update for the mobile fighting game Marvel: Contest of Champions was released, featuring a six-part story quest involving Jessica Jones and Daredevil, along with a level based on Hell's Kitchen. Additionally, Jessica Jones was added to the role-playing game Marvel: Future Fight.

External links

• Official website
• Marvel's Jessica Jones on Netflix
• Marvel's Jessica Jones at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show