When Daredevil premiered on NetFlix back in April, it exceeded most everyone’s expectations. As a result, the bar was raised significantly for the rest of Marvel’s upcoming NetFlix shows. The next of said shows to premiere is Jessica Jones, and the date of its release was just announced;
So November it is. It’s about what we assumed, the idea being that these shows will continue to drop every 6 months or so. The big question now – can the relatively unknown Jessica Jones successfully follow-up the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen? The story of Ms. Jones is that of an ex-superhero turned P.I. and is said to be very adult themed. So if you thought Daredevil was a little dark – this is gonna be a whole shade or two worse. Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) plays the title character, and having read the books, I can say she seems a near perfect fit. If you’re not familiar with the character, and aren’t too worried about potential spoilers from the comics, ComicsAlliance did a pretty solid video about her;
Along side our heroine, Luke Cage (Mike Colter of Ringer) will be introduced ahead of his own show, and former Doctor Who star David Tennant will play our villain; Kilgrave (The Purple Man). Kilgrave was pretty twisted in the comics, it will be interesting to see if they have to tone down his character for the show. The cast is rounded out by recognizable faces like Rachel Taylor (Transformers) and Matrix alum Carrie-Anne Moss.
Jessica Jones is kind of a strange choice as the followup to Daredevil simply because so few people are familiar with the character, but this show will be used to help set up the Luke Cage series, which has announced some casting recently. Alfre Woodard (True Blood, Memphis Beat) joins Colter in the new series as a Politician named Minetta. Sons of Anarchy star Theo Rossi will play villain ‘Shades’, and comic character and ally, Misty Knight has been cast as well. Knight will be played by Simone Missick who recently appeared on Showtime’s Ray Donovan.
In addition to these new characters, it’s been confirmed that Rosario Dawson’s character ‘Claire Temple’ from Daredevil will return in the Luke Cage show. Dawson is obviously always a welcome addition to anything she is in.
Of course this all brings us full circle back to the man without fear, Daredevil. His first season was so successful that they have shuffled their planned slate and added a second season of the show for next year. This season is going to introduce us to another big name from the Marvel catalogue – Frank Castle. The Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal will be playing Castle, more commonly known as The Punisher, and Mr. Bernthal has taken to Twitter, clearly excited for the role.
So the NetFlix/Marvel train seems to be gaining speed now, and there appears to be a lot for fans to be excited about. It also looks like I’ll need to take November 20 off work…
Images: TNT, Marvel Studios, Showtime, Twitter,
Marvel Comics, FX, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros.
Grizzly Bomb 