In the world of comic books, there are a few icons whose words are always viewed as gospel, and whose work is rarely gets criticized as anything less than magnificent. One of those people is Brian Michael Bendis, and when he starts talking about Netflix’s upcoming Jessica Jones, a series based on a character he created, you listen. Thankfully, he’s got nothing but praise for it.
There hasn’t been a lot of news or promotion for Jessica Jones yet – beyond the fact that it dropped the awkward A.K.A. from the title a while back – and Bendis has been even quieter on the subject. But now he’s talking, and he’s absolutely impressed. Here’s how he responded to a fan’s question on his Tumblr site.
The show is so good. I have seen the first couple of episodes and because I didn’t work on it directly, I can say this with full no ego fanfare: I loved it! And believe me, I was going to be the hardest on it. Harder than any of you.
Sure, there are some out there who will probably take this with a grain of biased salt, as Bendis is the guy who first turned the character into a fan favorite. But he can still tell quality from crap, and it’s hard to believe that Netflix and developer Melissa Rosenberg would deliver something that wouldn’t be worthy of lionizing, especially after seeing how good Daredevil is.
Speaking of the Man Without Fear, Bendis also took a second to compare the shows.
A bad Jessica Jones show would have hurt me deeply. But it is faithful and lively and everything that I could personally have wanted from the show. The mean streets of Marvel Netflix from a different perspective than Matt’s, but at the same time…it all fits. Just like the comics on their best day. And just like in Netflix DD, the look of the show is cracklin’ noir but with its own palette.
In Jessica Jones, Krysten Ritter plays the titular former superhero, who opened up shop as a private eye in New York City who takes cases with superpowered folks. She meets a mysterious man named Luke Cage, played by Mike Colter, and the two develop a distinct relationship which will lead into the standalone series Luke Cage coming next year. Also starring are David Tennant, Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, Erin Moriarty and Eka Darville. Bendis also had a couple of compliments to pay the leads.
He called Ritter “soooo good” and said that Colter’s casting is “as strong and spot on as the casting of Tony Stark.” Robert Downey Jr. has been the backbone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since Iron Man first came out, so if Colter could possibly serve as a comparable hero on the small screen, the actor’s career could explode in the future.
Before we get to Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Daredevil Season 2, we’ll be hiring Jessica Jones to add excitement to our lives when the show debuts on Netflix later this year.
