In the dark of night on Friday, the latest Marvel series released direct to Netflix, Jessica Jones, will arrive and you’re going to want to watch it.
That may sound like a crazy declaration given that we’re still several days away from the show dropping and I’ve watched the same number of episodes as just about everyone else (read: zero), but here’s the thing: it’s Marvel and it’s hard to think of the last time any arm of the studio let their audience down.
After a shaky start, Agents of Shield found its footing and Agent Carter was quality from Day One. In theatres, the major titles have been pretty strong throughout, but even Ant-Man, which was viewed as Marvel’s first potential miss, was really good and actually exceeded expectations. Plus, they’ve already proven they understand the one-hour streaming series space as well.
Earlier this year, Daredevil arrived and wiped away the awful memories of Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Colin Farrell with a gritty, grim, easy-to-binge re-invention. Charlie Cox was solid as “The Man Without Fear,” Vincent D’Onofrio dazzled as Wilson Fisk and everything went so well that Season 2 hits in April with Jon Bernthal coming on board as The Punisher and Elodie Yung taking on the role of Elektra.
While Jessica Jones doesn’t have the same built-in recognition with casual viewers the way some of the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or even Daredevil do, Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t either and everything went pretty well there.
Additionally, Jessica Jones will introduce audiences to Luke Cage, who will eventually get the Netflix series treatment of his own in 2016.
Krysten Ritter stars in the titular role and from the trailers, this looks like the right fit for the familiar face. Though she’s been hit-or-miss throughout her career, the 33-year-old was strong arc on Season Two of Breaking Bad and it looks like she’ll be somewhat similar here, minus the heroin problem and with some superpowers mixed in.
Former Doctor Who David Tennant plays “Kilgrave,” the big bad who has a backstory with Ms. Jones and is described by studio chief Jeph Loeb as someone similar to D’Onofrio’s Fisk in that he’s a bad guy that doesn’t necessarily think he’s doing bad things. Honestly, those are the best kind of villains and the fact that we don’t know a ton about this guy going in makes him even more intriguing.
Not sold? Watch the trailers and tune in Friday.
