Move over, Captain America, Iron Man, and basically any other male hero. There’s a new sheriff in town, or should I say private investigator? Marvel’s newest installment to their franchise is the gritty Netflix Original “Jessica Jones,” based off the comic book character that first appeared in Marvel’s 2001 “Alias #1.” Jessica Jones is a private investigator with superhuman strength living in the NYC neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. She attempts to live her own life, until someone from her dark past emerges; and this time, Jessica does not plan on running away from her problems. The rest of the season is based on her chase of tracking down and killing the sadistic Kilgrave.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Jessica Jones.” In today’s culture, media works based on comic books can become a bit repetitive and dull. For example, how many times has DC attempted to reinvent Batman? Despite this trend, “Jessica Jones” was refreshing to say the least. To begin with, how rare is it to have a strong female lead in a superhero work of fiction? Nonetheless, Jessica Jones is more an antihero than hero. She’s irrational, reclusive, and plain rude at times; however, she utilizes her powers for the wellbeing of society because she has a good heart. In addition, Jessica Jones is a real woman. The audience sees her not as some happy-go-lucky girl, but as someone who has breakdowns and as someone who doesn’t always look perfect and as someone who fails at times. As opposed to many television shows today, the female is actually written as a female. With all this said, one of my favorite aspects of the show is how it tackles social issues. The series’ antagonist is the handsome and charming Kilgrave who has the ability to control minds. With Kilgrave’s dapper appearance, we are shown that not every villain is so evident. He is especially manipulative toward women, yet the worst part is that he doesn’t even realize that what he is doing is wrong. “Jessica Jones” takes on sexism, misogyny, and abuse and depicts these things through Kilgrave’s vile character.

Overall, I highly recommend this series. Despite Marvel’s history and enormity, they’ve managed to create something new with “Jessica Jones.” Whether you are male or female, you can relate to this show. “Jessica Jones” is definitely binge-worthy and is currently streaming on Netflix. “Jessica Jones” is a series that will make you think. It may even challenge your conventional views. But isn’t that what art is supposed to do?