“We find Jessica taking control back in season 2,” say the women behind Netflix and Marvel’s ‘Jessica Jones’

The return of the iconic line, “Are you drinking to remember or forget,” has our bones quaking in anticipation to watch Jessica Jones. If you haven’t already binge-watched Season 2, no time like the present.

Before the release of the show’s second season earlier this month, a female-fuelled panel, aptly titled ‘The women of Marvel’s Jessica Jones’, was held at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters. The panel featured Allie Goss, Vice President of Netflix Originals Series; Samantha Thomas, Marvel Vice President of Original Programming; and Deborah Chow and Jet Wilkinson, who directed episodes on the show. All dressed to the nines, the vetted women in entertainment all had something unique to contribute to the multi-faceted debate on the mosaical second season.

Jessica Jones was brought to life by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos in 2001, and she instantly struck a chord with Marvel Universe fans, what with Luke Cage calling her “a hard-drinking, short-fused, mess of a woman.” Relatable.

‘Courage and bravery and empowerment’

According to Goss, while audiences continue to fall in love with the complex Jones, “There’s a new mystery where she has this great relationship with a character played by Janet McTeer... you’ll see her dive deeper into her past and better understand who she is. It also has these beautiful themes similar to Season 1, of courage and bravery and empowerment, and those things are really resonating as they did with Season 1, but even more so now in this current era we exist in.”

Thomas adds, “In Season 2, I think as she unravels this mystery and digs deeper into her past, we find Jessica taking control back, which has a lot of resonance today. I mean for me, from the inception of the comic book through our series, these things of empowerment and overcoming trauma and bravery and courage... have been kind of intrinsic to who Jessica Jones is from Day 1. So it’s been the story that we set out to tell.”

She adds that the relevance it has today is a true honour, which readily fits into a world that is ready to talk about the ongoing and frankly debilitating injustices, adding, “Maybe you call that Kismet; but we’ve been really proud of the point of view and the depiction of women in our shows, and this show, in particular, from years back, when the idea first started circulating about turning this into a show.”

Goss continues that with regard to the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements’ strides towards equality, it is important that Jones’ story be relatable, as she experiences the world, despite being a superhero. “We were always very proud of Season 1, and the story it depicted with all women... [She’s in a] world that we understand, and having experiences that we, not only as women, but also as viewers, recognise. We’ve always been proud of that.”

In Season 1, however, we met a Jones who was psychologically, emotionally and physically tormented and controlled by the villainous, yet somewhat charming, Kilgrave. So while seeing the roots of that torment was disturbing for a lot of audiences, Season 2 explores Jones as an individual and how she evolved into a heavily-drinking and leather jacket-sporting anarchist.

Directorial debates

Aussie Jet Wilkinson is no newbie to the Marvel-and-Netflix family; she directed episodes of The Punisher and Iron Fist, so her move to the gritty Jessica Jones was inexorable. “I love that she was deeply flawed. And she was allowed to be deeply flawed and she was embraced for her flaws. I think as women, sometimes, you know in the past, we’ve been depicted as having to be perfect.”

Such a layered character requires a skilled actor like Krysten Ritter, who is so neatly gloved into the role, it is hard to imagine anyone else playing Jones. Wilkinson adds, “I loved working with Krysten. She brought such great dedication and passion to the role and she’s very collaborative. It was very inspiring to be on set with her, because we’d riff off of each other and talk about what could work, what wasn’t working, how we can make it better and it was truly fun to be part of that. I think she brought such humanity and truthfulness to the role, it’s quite a nuanced and beautiful thing to watch.”

Deborah Chow, whose name is attached to projects such as Fear the Walking Dead, Iron Fist and Mr Robot, adds that her inclination towards geek culture since childhood would inevitably lead her to the comics-entertainment realm. “I was not interested in doing more traditional television, and [Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg] was so supportive; she basically said, ‘I’m going to get you to Marvel and we’re going to get you hired.’ And she did it and that’s how I ended up here. I’m sure for Jet and I and a lot of us, we don’t want to get hired because we’re Asian or because we’re women. We want to get hired because we’re directors at the end of the day.”

Other directors of the season include Jennifer Lynch (Criminal Minds, Quantico), Liz Friedlander (The Gifted, Conviction) and Neasa Hardiman (Happy Valley, Inhumans).

All 13 episodes of Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season 2 are available on Netflix.

The writer was at the invitation of Netflix Inc for 2018 Netflix Labs Day in California.