At New York Comic Con tonight, the producers and the entire cast (minus David Tennant, who is currently in a play in London) from Marvel's Jessica Jones were on hand for a big panel for the show and what we assumed would be the debut of a bunch of new footage - similar to how NYCC last year was where several long scenes from Daredevil debuted. Instead, a big surprise was in store, as the entire first episode was screened, to very enthusiastic response.

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While a full review is coming down the line, I will say Jessica Jones starts out with a strong premiere episode that firmly marks the series as the most mature Marvel Cinematic Universe project to date. Yes, Daredevil took the MCU into much darker, more violent places, but Jessica Jones not only matches that, it goes further.Watching it, it feels like the only restrictions Marvel seems to have placed were the "F" word couldn't be said (like in the comics, Jessica curses a bunch; she just doesn't say that word) and there couldn't be any nudity. But no nudity doesn't mean no sex, and Jessica Jones easily goes further than anything in the MCU in terms of sexuality. Not only are there sex scenes, but they are very physical, blunt ones, which caused some nervous laughter from the audience of several thousand people, some who brought kids - though Marvel TV's Jeph Loeb did forewarn them that the Netflix material has already proven it's not really kid-oriented.Those who have read the Alias comic books Jessica Jones is based on know Jessica's very dark, disturbing backstory and the premiere episode immediately begins to lay the groundwork for it. On a psychological level, what Jessica (and another character we meet in the premiere) go through is also notably tough material, and few will accuse this show of holding back.Krysten Ritter makes for a commendably tough, sardonic Jessica - someone very damaged but still possessing a lot of strength, both physically and mentally. And the supporting cast makes a strong impression, including Carrie-Anne Moss and, in the notable role of Luke Cage, Mike Colter. Immediately, it's hard to not be excited knowing the Luke Cage series is already in production.David Tennant only appears a bit in the premiere as Killgrave (Marvel's Purple Man), but he also makes a big first impression, in an appropriately scary, nasty way. While there were a couple of cheesy lines in Jessica Jones' first episode, they were the exception, and I'm certainly anxious to see the rest of the series, when it debuts on Netflix on November 20th.