By Marc Bernardin, Source: Blastr.com
ABC is getting into the Marvel business in a big way, and one of the series they’re developing—alongside Guillermo del Toro’s Hulk—is A.K.A. Jessica Jones, based on Brian Michael Bendis’ stunning Alias. And it’ll take place firmly within the universe established by Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.
In the comics from Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos, Jessica Jones was a retired superhero who opened her own private investigation firm and worked cases that brought her back into contact with the world she left behind. Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (the Twilight saga, Dexter) has been working on Jessica Jones for a while, and she revealed that her vision for the series would sit smack dab in the middle of Marvel’s cinematic universe:
“As we go along things will alter in terms of what is made available to us, but we’re definitely in that universe. We are in no way denying that that universe exists. And as much as I can I’m going to pull everything in from there that I can use.”
Adding that Tony Stark and Stark Industries are in the latest version of the pilot, Rosenberg does say that roping in other members of Marvel’s comic-book continuity can get a little dicey:
“It’s very tricky navigation there. You can’t mention one guy because Fox has the rights to that guy and Universal has the rights to the other one. There are a lot of boundaries on who you can and can’t use.”
But she did score a pair of heavy hitters: Luke Cage, who goes on to develop a relationship with Jones in the comics, and Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel, currently an Avenger (and one of the most powerful ones at that):
“Basically, I wanted those three guys—then I would have a series. Everyone else we can be digging into lesser known characters or taking known characters and renaming them.”
As with all things in TV development, only time will tell if A.K.A. Jessica Jones goes any further than a script. But it’s promising.
