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Spoilers below forMarvels Jessica Jonesseason two.
Times are tough for Jessica Jones.
But hey, what else is new?
Well, you introduced the freakingWhizzerto the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Of all of the Marvel Comics properties to introduce the Whizzer, I would never suspectJessica Jones.
He begins as comic relief in some ways, then it becomes tragic and you feel sorry for him.
So we went to our Marvel partners, and Megan Bradley over at Marvel is a master of this.
Thats how he gets his powers.
Just teeny little nods.
Did that predate everything thats happened?Oh, very much.
All our stories were written and shot before any of that happened.
Before the big movement, before any of it came out.
This season, for me, is very personal.
Borrowing from my own life or from the writers lives, it was really just coming from that.
It wasnt in any way trying to make any kind of statement.
Thats where it was coming from.
As it turns out, I think it may be resonant with some people.
Theres this really deep bench.
There are so many talented, qualified women.
Its not like were having to search very hard.
With the directors, its not like we were discovering anyone.
Theyre as highly qualified with as many credits as any other director, you know?
Do you think that ended up changing the season?It does change the storytelling.
It doesnt change what ends up onscreen.
A director is a director, and a great director is a great director.
Its not like,Oh, this has a female feel to it.
It just has the feel of a great visual style.
But what does change slightly is the process.
You look around and realize,Wow, our set is fifty-fifty women.
Our meetings are fifty-fifty women.
It becomes very normalized.
But it feels normal, and hopefully it becomes normal on every other set.
At what point did you conceive of the scene where Jeri dances with the sex workers?Very early.
Its the second episode, so we were talking about it very early on.
What comes out in that scene is her desperation to not feel that fear and not feel that vulnerability.
What we didnt want to turn it into was a gratuitous scene.
Its not about the sex workers.
Its really about her abandon in an effort to deny her reality.
So, that was the primary focus.
We wanted to double-check we werent choosing supermodels as [sex workers].
We wanted to find some very real-looking, real-feeling women, which we did.
And the way it was shot, theres a beauty to it, but its also very much raw.
Thats all [Jeri actor] Carrie-Anne [Moss], you know?
What did you want to do with Jeris arc this season?
There are good reasons for that, her need to so aggressively pursue these things that she does.
No one is invulnerable.
Shes so subtle in how she allows those deeper fears and emotions to surface.
Some sense of power.
For Krysten, itsHow does she walk?
Season two, were in sync.
I think Krysten embodies it on such a deeper level this season.
Amazing range and craft.
Overall, what did you want to do differently?We had the quintessential villain in Kilgrave.
He was a classic villain played by David Tennant, just beautifully performed.
We knew we werent going to match him.
Its a different structure and a different, slower burn.
Where season one is sort of a bullet train, this season is like a steam engine.
It gathers speed as it goes along, and youre laying all this track in front of it.
Well, not less accessible, but they count on us to run our own show.
I count on them for story notes.
We get it as far as we can and then we want fresh eyes.
Then we get our feedback from Netflix as well.
If and when we get season-three pick up, itll be … theres no longerThe Defendersin between.
So, well be slamming into it if and when it happens.
Were you worried that viewers might forget what happened in season one?
Anyone at any time can just go back and watch one.
In some ways, I also think this season stands alone.
You could watch this season and not necessarily have to know what happened last season.
Its just so moving for him.
I think those are the greatest compliments I receive.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
