Marvel’s Jessica Jones EP talks tone and David Tennant’s role as Kilgrave

Jeph Loeb hints that Jones will be the darkest of the superhero shows.

Even though we have yet to see an air date, we’ve got to be getting close to the Netflix premier of Marvel’s Jessica Jones. The press machine has been going into overdrive ever since the announcement of David Tennant taking on the roll of the villain Kilgrave and the fact that we will get a Defenders miniseries out of this. 

As the cast and production teams have been hitting the promotion circuit, more and more has been eked out for what we can expect. The Television Critic’s Association round table was no different. executive producer Jeph Loeb offered some insights into what the show will offer tonally and motivation-wise.

defenders

“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. One of the things we’ve talked a lot about is that [Jessica Jones] is in many ways a psychological thriller first and then a superhero show second.”

When prompted about the relationship between Jessica (Krysten Ritter) and Tennant’s Kilgrave, Loeb explained, “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.”

For those unfamiliar with Jessica Jones and her associates, Marvel will be reprinting the source comic, Alias, in two volumes starting in September, but the digital versions are already available via Comixology. It was written by Bendis and the reissue will have all new covers by artist David Mack.