Netflix’s Newest Show May Be Its Most Controversial Yet

Having superpowers doesn't necessarily mean you're empowered. That's what we learn in the first full trailer for Marvel's Jessica Jones, the latest superhero series from Netflix and the comic giant. Daredevil, which was released earlier this year, already established that the world of these shows is not as cheery as the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and Jessica Jones looks like it has the potential to get under your skin. The trailer first presents Jessica (Krysten Ritter) as a PI on the hunt for booze, but we soon learn about her troubled past as a hero. She was once under the thrall of Kilgrave, a.k.a. The Purple Man (David Tennant), a villain who uses telepathy to make others do his bidding. "You have no idea what I've done," she says. "What he made me do." Now Kilgrave has returned, forcing Jessica to come to grips with her own victimization and to the aid of his other targets. The trailer isn't full of butt-kicking, you go girl moments, but that's okay. Instead, we find a woman who must battle for control over her own body. That only makes the show more intriguing, and topical. The first episode of the series screened at New York Comic Con, and Vulture's Abraham Riesman called it "shockingly and refreshingly honest in its depiction of sex and sexuality." Riesman explained that Jessica is presented as a likely queer woman who knows what she wants in bed. The show, however, also deals with "mind control and the consequences of rape." He wrote: "the mere fact that Jessica Jones is even talking about rape and PTSD puts it miles ahead of its peers in Marvel's film and television lineup." We'll certainly be watching when it drops on November 20.