So I just finished Jessica Jones on Netflix. When Netflix announced all it's new Marvel titles, I wasn't really interested. I've just about gotten to superhero-saturation-overload, and that's coming from a guy who still enjoys comics in his 40's. I have seen many of the Marvel movies (though not any of the most recent), and have enjoyed them. To me though, the high bar of super hero movies is still the Nolan-directed Batman and Pixar's The Incredibles. Why? Because among the fantastical, there is also attention to actual human storytelling. There are genuine emotions, stakes and consequences. As an aside, it's also why the new Star Wars is infinitely better than the prequels that came before, but that's another potential blog.
Another reason is the smart use of the super powers themselves. As a teenager, I played the Marvel Super Heroes RPG, and part of the fun was finding synergies and new uses for powers on your heroes and between different team members (The Incredibles does this especially well). It's what I had ultimately hoped the NBC show Heroes from several years ago would be as well. And while that started off well, and had a few excellent episodes, it ended up being garbage, despite the involvement of actual comic industry people.
Part of the reason for this is also the medium itself. Older comics can be pretty hokey and sometimes even childish. But like any other art form, comics can also rise above that and become true art and well-written stories with realistic and realized characters. The comics code of the 50's is partly to blame, but was later renewed through the darker and more mature tales told by people like Miller, Moore, Gaimen, Morrison, Ennis and Ellis. And another source that I am surprised hasn't resurfaced, is the anthology series edited by George R.R. Martin, Wild Cards. Those stories (while some are hit or miss), are honest and mature takes on the super hero genre; real people in real situations, dealing with repression, oppression, politics, fame, popularity and isolation just like the rest of us. And the villains were not mustache-twirlers. They were real bastards, dangerous and cruel. They were characters that you did not fuck with, and so the struggles between the villains and heroes had real stakes to them. And like Game of Thrones, characters actually died (and sometimes even worse).
So now enters Jessica Jones, a character I knew nothing about (and wasn't really familiar with the supporting players either). It is most of the way through the first episode before you even discover that she is a super. And that sets the tone for how the story gets told, especially the emphasis on what is important. The origin of the supers is this story is not as important as to how that has affected them and their loved ones. It shows the real reason why you would want to conceal your identity, as strife comes to them on a regular basis, and often in ways that adversely affect the people around them. It shows the actual, longer-term consequences of their powerful actions. None of the characters are black of white, but they are all real. You see how not only the main characters, but the city in general have been affected by the actions of people that can destroy everything around them with the flick of a wrist (or carefully phrased suggestion). Everyone is trying to pursue happiness, and if they've given up on that, at least try to recover from their traumas.
And the villain. Good god, David Tennant's Kilgrave is one of the best villains to grace a hero story, probably ever. He is sadistic, without even realizing that he is much of the time. He is extremely dangerous, and makes people do awful things to themselves and each other. And he is a perfect foil to a main character that is super strong and tough. As near to immune from physical harm as Jessica is, you see in the first episode how Kilgrave has taken her sense of self, trust and safety. What better way for a villain with mind control to operate than to go after the physically powerful? And yet, he is not a cartoon character either. He is shown to have his own set of emotions and torments, though none of it justifies to the viewer that his actions are therefore ok.
The supporting characters are just as real, and most of them are regular people in Jessica's life (or in her wake). It will be a struggle for them to write another season as well planned and engaging as the first, but they set the pieces in motion it seems. I have yet to watch Daredevil (and I fear it won't be quite as good), but now I have more faith in what Netflix will be doing with their Marvel series.
Jessica Jones is the best thing Marvel has ever done, including their movies.