In an interview with Esquire, series creator and executive producer Melissa Rosenberg gives a preview of what to expect in the second season of Marvel’s Jessica Jones.
Some spoilers from season 1 ahead.
For those thinking that Jessica’s takedown of David Tennant’s devious and fiendish Kilgrave would provide her life peace alongside the closure, Rosenberg offers a hearty “au contraire.”
“She was kind of messed up even before Kilgrave came along, and so in Season Two we can explore what’s possible for her moving forward.”
Considering the series is about the PSTD that can be brought on by systematic abuse, it only makes sense that there would be no simple miracle cure for what ails — and fires on — Jessica. And Jessica’s life was not exactly pleasant prior to the atrocities forced on her by the Purple Man. Rosenberg continues…
“I learned from working on Dexter that you can advance the character, but you never want to cure the character,” Rosenberg said. “With Dexter, the moment he felt guilt or accepted that he was ‘bad,’ the show’s over. He’s no longer a sociopath. The equivalent for us would be if Jessica somehow recovered from the damage that had been done to her. People don’t just heal, you don’t go through that just to say, ‘Oh, he got arrested, he’s in jail, I’m OK now.'” Kilgrave’s fate was a little more final than a jail sentence, but the same principle applies for Jessica. “That trauma is a huge part of who she is now.”
Season 2 of Jessica Jones is likely a couple of years away, with Iron Fist and The Defenders miniseries making their way to Netflix in 2017. (Netflix is potentially considering airing 3 Marvel shows a year; rumors abound that recently announced new series Marvel’s The Punisher might also debut in 2017.) The extra time is proving a boon to Rosenberg and her writing staff. As of August, according to the article, the staff was midway through writing the second season scripts with Rosenberg relishing the opportunity to be able to rewrite to make the stories even better.
In addition to Jessica’s relationship with trauma, Rosenberg is eager to continue to explore Jessica’s relationship with best friend Trish Walker. The close friendship is one that intrigues the writer, though she acknowledges a thought from many that their intimacy feels quite a bit like that of ex-lovers. She doesn’t completely rule out the possibility, but seems far more interested in the unique power and complexity of female friendship.
As for Jessica’s role in The Defenders — which will bring her together with former fling and potential love interest Luke Cage, Hell’s Kitchen’s masked champion Daredevil, and wayward mystic martial artist Iron Fist — Rosenberg tells Esquire she is “only as involved as [Daredevil and Defenders showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez] need me to be.”
“I need to know what they’re doing in order to plan for Season Two of Jessica, and they need to know what we’re planning on in turn. Marvel is very smart and they enjoy collaboration, so there’s never one maniac trying to take ownership.”
Up next, Marvel’s Luke Cage premieres on Netflix on September 30. No word on if Jessica Jones puts an appearance in on the series or not.