Marvel TV’s Netflix panel was one of the biggest events of New York Comic Con 2015. Last year’s panel debuted the first footage of Daredevil and assembled the cast for the first time in public. But this year’s panel was even bigger than the previous year’s event.
Jeph Loeb, the Head of Marvel TV made his return as the moderator, and he quickly brought out Daredevil star Charlie Cox, Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter, and Luke Cage star Mike Colter for an early preview of what The Defenders will look like together in the team-up miniseries coming to Netflix in 2017. Iron Fist will also be a part of that team and receive his own series, but the role has not yet been cast.
The first half of the panel centered on Daredevil, which quickly earned a second season from Netflix earlier this year. Loeb debuted a Daredevil Season 2 teaser trailer which featured the first glimpse of Elodie Yung as Elektra and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher.
Loeb then welcomed Daredevil cast members Cox, Yung, Bernthal, Elden Henson, and Deborah Ann Woll to the stage alongside new Daredevil showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez with Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada rounding out the panel. Quesada’s stint as Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief stemmed from his stint as the artist and editor of the late ‘90s reboot of Daredevil for the Marvel Knights line of comics. Quesada told the crowd that the Daredevil TV series was a dream come true.
Ramirez seemed relieved that Daredevil carved out a place for darker stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before acknowledging the pent up demand for both Elektra and The Punisher on the series. Petrie noted that they will take season 2 of Daredevil even further than the first season.
Recalling her casting process, Yung related that she may have gotten the part because she told the casting directors that she could really kick their asses when they asked her if she was really a martial artist. She told the crowd that she has a black belt in karate and she has studied Muy Thai.
Bernthal joked (or perhaps it wasn’t a joke) that he is constantly stopped by Marvel fans and warned to not screw up the Punisher. Bernthal reiterated to the crowd that he understood what the Punisher means to fans and promised to give the role everything that he has.
The second half of the panel focused on Jessica Jones, the new series debuting next month that will bring Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos’ damaged heroine to live-action for the first time. Loeb brought out cast members Ritter, Colter, Carrie-Anne Moss, Erin Moriarty, Rachael Taylor, Eka Darville, and Will Traval. Much to the disappointment of the crowd, David Tennant did not make a surprise appearance. But Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg was also on the panel.
One of the early revelations was that Moss will play Jeryn Hogarth, a gender swap of a supporting character from the classic Power Man and Iron Fist comics. That certainly implies that Moss will stick around for the subsequent Luke Cage and Iron Fist series on Netflix.
The cast members praised Ritter’s performance on Jessica Jones and shared their appreciation of how the show handles a very flawed female heroine without undermining her.
For her part, Ritter spoke highly of the absent Tennant, who portrays Jessica Jones’ personal nemesis, Kilgrave on the series. Ritter said that Tennant was “magic” and that she learned a lot by playing off of him, and witnessing how he could add different emotional ranges to his performance. She also noted that Marvel had promised to surround her with the best performers, writers, and special effects on Jessica Jones and she added that they kept their word.
Loeb finally told the crowd that Tennant was in London, but the actor was seen in a special video for NYCC that introduced the entire first episode of Marvel’s Jessica Jones.
While Daredevil had previously been the darkest and most “mature” Marvel Studios story, Jessica Jones went much further with its R-rated content. Ritter’s Jessica Jones constantly swears and she even has sex scenes that proved to be a little uncomfortable to watch for some of the parents with kids in the audience. Loeb had warned the crowd ahead of time that this was coming, but no one seemed to believe it until it happened.
It should be noted that the sex scenes only featured implied nudity, so it wasn’t graphic or full on R-rated. But it still marked a major departure for the MCU. The first episode also starts the process of unfolding Jessica Jones’ origin as a failed superheroine and the damage that it did to her state of mind. Jessica Jones is a very emotionally broken woman, but she’s still the heroine of her own story and one of the most interesting characters in the entire MCU. It was an excellent start for the series.
Following the episode, Loeb brought out the Jessica Jones cast one last time for a standing ovation.
