Marvel’s Jessica Jones Producers Talk Tone, David Tennant, and the Title Hero

Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb on Jessica Jones

How do you follow-up the rampaging success that was “Marvel’s Daredevil?” By diving even further into the “Defenders” corner of the MCU with “Marvel’s Jessica Jones,” which Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb says will take things into another new direction.

“When we first sat down and started talking about ‘Daredevil,’ what we said was, for all intents and purposes, it was a crime drama first and a superhero show second,” Loeb said at this year’s TCA (via Indiewire). “One of the things we’ve talked a lot about is that ‘Jessica’ is in many ways a psychological thriller first and then a superhero show second.”

One of the anchors for “Marvel’s Daredevil” was Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, and Loeb is confident that “Jessica Jones” villain Kilgrave, played by David Tennant, will also wow eager fans.

“In the same kind of way Vincent D’Onofrio owned his half of ‘Daredevil,'” Loeb said, “you’ll see David Tennant own his half of ‘Jessica Jones.’…What you get out of ‘Jessica’ is a sort of hold-your-breath tension as to what’s going to happen. When you see the dynamic between Krysten Ritter and David Tennant… that question of ‘What’s going to happen next?’ and ‘What could happen next?’ and how that’s driven by character is something that is so important to not just the scripts but also the way the show is shot, and the way that everyone reacts, and the way those two react with each other.”

Executive producer Melissa Rosenberg (“Dexter”) chimed in about the title character and what makes her different from the other Marvel Heroes like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and even Matt Murdock.

“Jessica is about paying rent, getting the next client. She’s dealing with a fairly dark past. She’s trying to get through the day. She’s not really trying to save the city, she’s trying to save her apartment. At her core, she wants to do something good. She wants to contribute to the world. But there are a lot of personality issues for her that can get in the way…Jessica Jones is a brawler. She gets drunk, she gets pissed off, and boom, you’re down. She doesn’t wear a costume, she doesn’t have a mask. She’s just who she is.”

Taking place after a tragic ending to her short-lived Super Hero stint, the new series follows Jessica Jones (Ritter) as she rebuilds her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City (which happens to be exactly where these Jessica Jones set photos were taken).

Also starring on the show are Rachael Taylor (Shutter, Transformers) as Patsy Walker, Mike Colter (Zero Dark Thirty, Million Dollar Baby) as Luke Cage, Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix, Memento) as Harper, Eka Darville (“The Originals,” “Empire”) as Malcolm, Erin Moriarty (The Kings of Summer, The Watch) as Hope, and Wil Traval (“Once Upon a Time,” “Red Window”) as a NYPD cop.

“Marvel’s Jessica Jones” is set to premiere on Netflix later this year.