We’ve been treated to a televisual feast of comic book adaptations in recent years, invited to gorge on shows including Gotham, Agents of SHIELD, Arrow and The Flash. But those looking forward to watching David Tennant play one of the nastiest villains ever to grace a comic book, as announced on Tuesday, will also need to leave room for Marvel’s four Netflix shows.
Admittedly, Daredevil probably gives you terrifying flashbacks to Ben Affleck in red leather, and the other three shows on the Netflix slate – AKA Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage – may not have made a dent in your cultural memory bank. So here’s what to expect from Marvel’s Netflix shows.
Daredevil
Daredevil will be the first to screen, landing on Netflix on 10 April. British actor Charlie Cox, best known for his roles in Boardwalk Empire and Stardust, will play blind lawyer (and Man Without Fear) Matt Murdoch, while Full Metal Jacket’s Vincent D’Onofrio has been cast as villain Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin.
The Daredevil film did a nice job of lowering everyone’s expectations, so you would hope that Marvel and Netflix can deliver with this tale of street-level crime in Hell’s Kitchen. In addition, the show has former Joss Whedon collaborators Drew Goddard and Steven S DeKnight at the helm, so it should fit in nicely with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
AKA Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones, a former superhero turned private detective, will be the second Marvel hero to arrive on Netflix
David Tennant has just been announced as Killgrave, the villain of the show, playing opposite Breaking Bad actor Krysten Ritter as Jones. Killgrave, known in comics as The Purple Man due to an unfortunate chemical incident (unlikely to translate to screen), is the mind-controller who Jones shares a particularly unpleasant past with. Expect Tennant to be turning his performance up to Secret Smile levels of creepiness.
AKA Jessica Jones has been in development with Dexter writer and producer Melissa Rosenberg for four years, and, with the inclusion of Killgrave, looks like being an adaptation of Alias, the adult-only comic book series that introduced the sweary, screwed-up, borderline-alcoholic Jessica Jones to the world.
She threw up on Thor’s shoes once. She’s the best.
Luke Cage
Luke Cage is a former con with super strength and impenetrable skin. He doesn’t always subscribe to the idea that heroism is its own reward – in the comics he co-founds Heroes for Hire so that he can invoice for his superheroic services.
We’re not going to see Luke’s show on screen for some time yet, but he’ll be appearing first on AKA Jessica Jones, played by The Good Wife’s Mike Colter. All the Marvel Netflix shows will be interlocking stories, all sharing the same space and often the same characters. In the comics, for instance, Luke is briefly Matt Murdoch’s bodyguard, while Jessica nurtures a largely booze-fuelled crush on Daredevil.
Iron Fist
No word yet on who will play Danny Rand, AKA Iron Fist, or many details of the show. But from the comic books we know that billionaire Danny is friends with Luke Cage. Iron Fist is the comic book co-founder of the Heroes for Hire, and the two characters spent the 70s together kicking ass and wearing fabulous headbands. Iron Fist is expected to make his Netflix debut in Luke Cage, so a casting announcement should be expected in a few months.
The Defenders
Once all four shows have aired, the characters will be brought together for mini-series The Defenders. Imagine the Avengers without the budget, and you’re pretty much there.
Will these shows arrive before superhero fatigue kicks in? Marvel’s latest TV offering, Agent Carter, doesn’t have great ratings and hasn’t yet found a UK broadcaster. Will these shows arrive just in time for the superhero bubble to burst? Or will they thrive in the more adult Netflix environment? Either way, AKA Jessica Jones looks especially promising.
