With the impending release of “Breaking Dawn, PT. 1” and “Pt. 2” in the editing room, Melissa Rosenberg’s duties on “The Twilight Saga” are now essentially completed. She’s currently working on a number of new projects including a film adaptation of Pamela Sargent’s Sci-Fi novel “Earthseed,” a potential NBC series “Afterthought” and, most intriguing, Marvel Studios’ “AKA Jessica Jones” which was first announced at Comic-Con this past summer. Catching up with Rosenberg, she says the series is very real and they are just waiting on a green light to shoot a pilot.
“I wrote it kind of off season so it fell in between seasons,” Rosenberg says. “So, we are waiting to see what happens for the upcoming season now and our hope is that it will come to life at that time. It fell between the cracks of the seasons and, hopefully, this will be the one.”
Based on Brian Michael Bendis comic series “Alias,” the TV show would center on Jessica Jones a former superhero under the code name Jewel who has decided to give up tights and spotlight. Rosenberg confirmed the show would also have principal parts for Luke Cage (also known as Power Man and her eventual husband in the comics) as well as Carol Danvers (better known as Ms. Marvel, on of the most powerful members of The Avengers). The former “Dexter” scribe and producer confirmed the potential TV series would absolutely take place in the larger “cinematic” Marvel Universe that has been established by films such as “Iron Man” and “Thor,”” but admitted they can’t reference everything.
“It’s very tricky navigation there. You can’t mention one guy because Fox has the rights to that guy and Universal has the rights to the other one. There are a lot of boundaries on who you can and can’t use,” Rosenberg reveals. “I had Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and Carol Danvers [for the pilot script]. Basically, I wanted those three guys — then I would have a series. Everyone else we can be digging into lesser known characters or taking known characters and renaming them.”
As for The Avengers themselves, Rosenberg says she can reference them, but Tony Stark and Stark Industries are in the current pilot script. Rosenberg notes, “As we go along things will alter in terms of what is made available to us, but we’re definitely in that universe. We are in no way denying that that universe exists. And as much as I can I’m going to pull everything in from there that I can use.”
And as to whether Warner Bros. and NBC’s disastrous experience on a new “Wonder Woman” would affect ABC’s inclination to green light “Jessica Jones,” Rosenberg doesn’t feel it’s an issue.
“I don’t think so, because ‘Wonder Woman’ was already in the works and dealing with what it was dealing with when I was starting ‘Jessica Jones,'” Rosenberg says, “Frankly, ‘Jessica’ is so much darker than ‘Wonder Woman,’ If anything that would be the issue. It’s fairly edgy and gritty than even the comic book.”
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