Meet Marvel's latest TV hero: Jessica Jones

She might be the latest comic character from the Marvel stable to get her own series, but Jessica Jones is far from your usual superhero. There's no costume, no particularly noticeable special powers, and no personal desire or moral imperative to save the city, or the world. In fact Jessica (played to perfection by Krysten Ritter) is a sarcastic, grouchy, alcoholic Hell's Kitchen resident whose main concern is making enough money by doing some dodgy tasks for an attorney, so that she can buy another bottle of whisky.

A scene from Marvel's Jessica Jones.

She's been there, done that with the superhero thing, and it "didn't work out". So now she mooches around the city at night, taking photos of cheating spouses as a private eye (she does have her own business called Alias Investigations Ltd, but has a less than desirable customer service approach), or delivering court papers to elusive white collar criminals. Occasionally she might lift a car with her bare hands, or leap up the side of a building, but mostly, Jessica Jones remains incognito.

It's not long before audiences will discover why she's such a mess though. A supervillain named Kilgrave (played by David Tennant) is responsible, having developed a talent for controlling minds, and made Jessica his puppet. After he made her do a bunch of despicable things, she thought she'd finally freed herself and killed him. But it turns out, maybe not. When another young, beautiful athletic girl disappears and starts doing odd things, Jessica suspects Kilgrave is back.

David Tennant stars in Marvel's Jessica Jones.

Despite her prickly exterior, she does have a few allies - her sometimes boss, attorney Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss); her best friend, famous radio host Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor); and a mysterious bar owner Luke Cage (Mike Colter) who has a few secret superpowers of his own. They're all drawn into Jessica's quest to bring Kilgrave down, whether accidentally or on purpose, and help to expose her more vulnerable side.

Because much like the other recent Netflix/Marvel collaboration Daredevil, Jessica Jones is all about the grey areas of superhero-dom. The heroes are conflicted, flawed, damaged, and inhabit a dark and gritty world where right and wrong isn't always clear. They have just as many weaknesses and desires as any regular person, and don't necessarily always get things right, or save the day.

Fans can also look forward to an upcoming event miniseries called The Defenders, that will bring together these superheroes of the same ilk - Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist (both of whom will have their own separate series first), which will likely arrive in late 2016, or early 2017.

When: From today
Where: Netflix
What: A kick-ass lady