Jessica Jones: Why You Should Care About Someone You Know Nothing About

By James Nelson

We’re about a month away from the live action debut of Jessica Jones, the second female character that Marvel has given a standalone series to (seriously, they’ve only done Agent Carter, and it was pretty terrible). Aside from this being a Marvel property, why on earth should you care to see anything about another obscure Marvel character on TV?

Here’s the trailer in case you missed it:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHUjuJ8zxE&w=560&h=315]

She’s a badass

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This is not Wonder Woman we’re talking about here. She’s not some artifact of a bygone era of comics, and she’s actually fairly new. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis, one of the best comic writers around (Ultimate Spider-Man anyone?) in the early 2000s. She was inserted at the ground level of the Marvel Comics Universe, being classmates and friends with Peter Parker, and receiving her super powers at the same time, and unlike every other TV hero we’ve seen so far, she actually has legit powers. She’s super strong, can fly, and though isn’t invulnerable, can definitely take a beating. In fact she’s so powerful that in the comics she was sent by a villain (while under mind control), to attack Avengers Mansion. She actually held her own against some of them (Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Iron Man specifically). Aside from being powerful, she’s also funny, witty, and doesn’t take anyone’s crap, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the people she cares about.

She’s got a broken past

Like many of the great heroes, she’s not got the best life. Her parents died in the car crash that gave her powers and she spent a long time trying to recover from that. In addition she spent eight months as a young costumed hero under the mind control of one of the freakiest villains in Marvel lore, the Purple Man (Zebediah Killgrave). Killgrave is actually a long time Daredevil villain created by Stan Lee himself. In his most recent interpretations, Purple Man is actually a very powerful mutant, akin to Professor X, except instead of it being actual telepathy, it’s controlled through pheromones he releases that, given enough time, subside. That being said, he can release them into an atmosphere and control whole cities (like Manhattan) given the right circumstances. For eight months she did his bidding, and it was so terrible she actually abandoned being a superhero for a long time (and it appears this is where we find her at the beginning of this series).

Killgrave is the monster of this season

A horrible, vile monster.
A horrible, vile monster.

On paper, Purple Man seems kind of stupid, and was originally a fairly hokey villain, but as time has passed his powers have been enhanced by various writers and his predilections have become darker. Currently (well, as currently as a dead person can get), he’s a master manipulator who enjoys inflicting pain and taking advantage of everything around him. He’s been known to (get ready for it) rape and sexually assault his victims (regardless of age or sex). His regular schtick was to make women fall in love with him, get them pregnant, and leave them, cause you know, he’s a class act and all.

Purple Man
And people think comics are for children.

Now, I can’t say I’m excited to see a villain who’s known for being sexually violent as being the primary antagonist of a female character (SERIOUSLY Marvel? You’re first REAL female superhero and you pit her up against her abuser? Don’t start this Game of Thrones crap with me), but the incredible David Tennant has been cast to play him, and I have no doubt that his performance will be spectacular. I really hope he’s actually Purple (Yes, I realize he’s not in the trailer, but maybe he’s just mind controlling everyone to not see it).

Marvel’s path to “the Defenders”

the defenders

This show is also the next step to the MCU’s incarnation of the Defenders, a street level Avengers style team. Before seeing Daredevil I would have said it was worth seeing just for that, but if Jessica Jones is as good as Daredevil than it’ll be some of the best TV has to offer.

Check out some of our other posts below!

Wolverine: A visual history of the most dangerous mutant.

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Captain America: Civil War will be Avengers 3 and that’s not a good thing.

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WHERE IS LUKE?

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