Netflix's Marvel Jessica Jones Release Date; How Will It Affect Women Superheroes and the Defenders

By Mark Rollins
Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones is coming on November 20, 2015. Marvel/Netflix

Netflix and Marvel had an idea to take superheroes and give them their show and then join all the characters in the Defenders.  It was an idea that Marvel had success with the Avengers movies, but the Defenders series, like Jessica Jones, is getting darker.  This is what is known about the Defenders series, including Jessica Jones, Season 2 of Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist

There is now a full-length trailer for the new Marvel superhero series Jessica Jones, and it is dark, mysterious, and it could change the superhero genre as we know it.  The trailer shows Krysten Ritter dealing with the seedy underbelly of New York City. 

It isn't a Marvel-ous world, even though it presumably takes place in the same universe as the Avengers movies.  Jessica Jones takes the inherent darkness that was apparent in Season 1 of Daredevil and takes it one step further. In Daredevil, even Matt Murdock (the title hero's real name) didn't have any supernatural powers, only enhanced senses.  In Jessica Jones, the heroes and villains have powers and are using them discreetly but efficiently. 

In fact, it looks like Jessica Jones claims that she was a former hero, one who has "been there, done that."  She has now settled down as a private investigator in Hell's Kitchen and entered a relationship with Luke Cage (Mike Colter), who also has some augmented strength of some kind. 

What is interesting and also creepy is how Jessica is being stalked by a villain named the Purple Man, played by David Tennant.  Purple Man has the power to control people via mind control and plays a cat-and-mouse game with Jones. 

The trailer is enticing, and it could be a game-changer for women superheroes.  Most superhero films or television shows feature male protagonists, but Jessica Jones is a strong female character in every sense of the word.  The only thing that seems a setback to female superheroes is that the Purple Man is essentially stalking and threatening her in the shadows, and this victimizing isn't something that is seen on most superhero shows with male leads. 

As far as the long-term Defenders show is concerned, it would be very easy to do some crossover with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but there has been little rumors of that. Daredevil Season 2 is currently filming now for a release date in Spring of 2016, and Matt will have his hands full with both Punisher and Elektra in it.  Since the shows both take place in Hell's Kitchen, the potential for crossover is there, and it is just too tempting to resist for Marvel and its fans.

The next Defenders show, Luke Cage, will have to intersect with Jessica Jones.  In fact, Luke Cage looks to be the love interest of Jessica, so does he intend to break up with her so he can have his series?  It looks like something might happen there, and Luke Cage debuts later in 2016. 

That would probably mean that Luke Cage the show would probably introduce Iron Fist, who will also have his show sometime in 2016.  The two of them go way back with Power Man and Iron Fist, a comic put out in the eighties by Marvel.  There hasn't been much word on Iron Fist and his series. 

There will be more news about the last two Defenders after Jessica Jones Season 1 premieres on Netflix on November 20, 2015.  Considering how good the trailer looks, Marvel fans will be clamoring for more.