While Wonder Woman represents strength, Batgirl explores disability, and Harley Quinn explores abusive relationships, Jessica Jones explores the more direct subject of battered women and the effects of rape/assault. This section may contain graphic language and may be unsuitable for certain audiences. However, it is necessary for the purposes of theme and trauma.

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The character of Jessica Jones was created in 2001 and was released in Marvel MAX, a comic series that specialized in R-rated content, in November shortly after September 11th. As Jewel, the superhero persona she had before she retired the name and costume, she runs into Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man, a mutant (or, in the Netflix series, a man who, in his childhood was genetically experimented on by his parents) who can manipulate those around him with his mere words. After psychologically torturing her and using her as an assistant to his crimes, he commands her to go kill Daredevil, but she is rescued by Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) . After help from X-Men Jean Grey and a failed relationship with a SHIELD agent, Jones gives up on superhero life and opens up Alias Investigations as a private eye. Currently, she remains in the Marvel universe, and has found a new audience due to the Netflix series Jessica Jones.

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The dark, gritty reality of the Jessica Jones mythos came at a time when September 11th was still fresh in everyone’s minds. It transformed the lives of those who witnessed it on television as well as those who saw it in person. That same darkness followed her to the television series on Netflix. While the series does not deny the statistic that one out of six American women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, it’s main draw is that of a reluctant retired superhero-turned private-eye-for-hire alcoholic who begrudgingly uses her super powers to helps clients while juggling her personal traumas.

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The series does not offer a chance to sexualize rape or assault. It removes any direct depictions of the act of rape itself and focuses on the fallout instead. After a horribly tragic encounter with Kilgrave, the villain of the series, Jessica tries to rebuild her life and gets a job to find a character named Hope. Unfortunately, Hope murders her parents in front of Jessica, and, deducing that she was manipulated by the Purple Man, Jessica runs, knowing that her worst nightmare has returned. However, once she accepts that she can’t run from it, she decides to find him and extract a confession from Kilgrave by any means necessary.