Comic book fans who were hoping to see "AKA Jessica Jones" on TV should not be overly discouraged by the fact that ABC has passed at this point on the show. The show is not dead as it has simply been pushed off down the road. There are many reasons to believe this project will still get off the ground as the show would give both ABC and Marvel room for extra growth and expansion in the future.
Who is Jessica Jones?
In the Alias comic, Jessica Jones is an ex-costumed superhero who has hung up her suit to become a private detective. To her surprise, almost all of her clients either turn out to be superheroes or have some type of connection to superheroes. She ends up hiring Luke Cage as a bodyguard and the two fall in love.
Pushed Down the Road
Instead of the "AKA Jessica Jones" idea being canned, the project was shelved until a future date. ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee explained that screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who was going to work on the comic book-based show, is going to work on a different project right now. "Red Widow," Rosenberg's other project, will be a midseason addition to the ABC lineup. This means that either another writer could be added to the show based on the Alias comic book or it could mean that Rosenberg will pick back up with "AKA Jessica Jones" when "Red Widow" completes.
The Current Need
When "The Walking Dead" took off, the networks went scrambling for comic book-based shows. With the success of "The Avengers," the comic book industry has shown its importance and will continue to be a target for more projects. ABC is moving forward with the new "The Incredible Hulk" and is hoping that show will be a major hit for the network. If it is, "AKA Jessica Jones" will assuredly be moved to the front of the line again as the network pushes to corner the superhero market.
Benefits for Marvel and ABC
The crossover and introduction potential offered by "AKA Jessica Jones" is amazing. Marvel is looking down the road at possible movies for Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and many other secondary characters. Jessica Jones at least had run-ins with all of these characters and her show could be used to introduce these characters to people who have not followed the comics or have not followed them closely enough to gain insight into what makes these characters tick. Even if movies are not launched off of the characters on "AKA Jessica Jones," other ABC spin-off shows could be.
The character of Jessica Jones is extremely resilient and does not take "No" for an answer. There is no reason to believe the concept of the show is dead. Remember, no character ever truly dies in the comic books. The spirit of the character simply waits for a storyline to be reintroduced to the public.
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