Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
**SPOILERS FOR MARVEL’S THE DEFENDERS**
I think I need help. I watched all of Marvel’s The Defenders, and my big takeaway as a Marvel fan wasn’t that it was super cool seeing Luke Cage and Iron Fist buddy up, or that seeing Elektra with her trademark sais was awesome. Nope. I found myself, despite my better judgment, falling for the idea of an onscreen Jessica Jones/Daredevil relationship.
Yeah, I know. It’s silly. I want to see the mopey martyr of Hell’s Kitchen get all flirty with the drunkest, surliest woman in Marveldom. But I still want it.
As a comic book fan, I understand this is blasphemy. Jessica Jones is supposed to wind up married to Luke Cage. Daredevil is supposed to cycle through Karen Page and Elektra (and possibly in a dream universe, Black Widow) and eventually wed Milla Donovan, who has yet to appear in any Marvel/Netflix franchise. Oh, and Misty Knight is supposed to get it on with Iron Fist. These are the canonical relationships I’m supposed to be rooting for, and yet, I can’t stop telling people how absolutely delighted I was by Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter‘s chemistry! Because they are absolutely fantastic together! (I swear!) The two actors have a natural ease together onscreen and the characters play off each other with understated sparks — and not forced googly-eyes.
Yeah. I said it. A lot of the more exciting character interactions in Marvel’s The Defenders came with an ever-so-slight push and an over-the-top wink and a placating nudge to fans. Jessica and Luke’s final scene of the series? Where they wistfully hint that they want to get back together and maybe…”get coffee?” The comic book nerd in me wants that — I do — but the astute television viewer who has watched hours and hours of Luke setting up (and ferociously consummating) a tender romance with Claire Temple is wary of the fallout of such a reunion. A huge part of that is because Rosario Dawson and Mike Colter also have lovely, natural chemistry together. I want to see more them flirting over plagiarized poetry in the afternoon sun. Just like I want to see more of Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones learning to trust each other through and through.
A huge part of Marvel’s The Defenders is devoted to those two unlikely friends learning how to believe in each other. True to the comic books, Matt is introduced as Jessica’s lawyer. He tells her that he’s read her file and knows about Kilgrave. Instead of belaboring the awful experience, he just tries to hint that if she’s in a similar situation — i.e. fighting a big bad supervillain — she can tell him. He doesn’t see her as a victim, nor does he want her to put herself in harm’s way flying solo as a superhero. When he tries to step in to stop her getting involved with the situation at Midland Circle, it’s not because he’s ignorant of her abilities, nor is it because he underestimates her. If anything, he sees himself in her. He sees a reflection of himself, barreling headfirst into the same dire battles.
Jessica might be the only character we’ve seen on any of the shows that — dare I say it? — actually understands Matt. Daredevil is a character that a lot of other characters try to control. Stick wants him on the front lines of the great war to come. Elektra wants him wrapped up in her dark twisted (revenge) fantasies. And Foggy, Claire, and Karen just want him to chill out and live a safe, happy life. Matt’s impulse is to push against these requests. He transforms into the most stubborn, tortured man alive — immovable in his resolve as a corpse.
However, Jessica repeatedly manages to reach him in Marvel’s The Defenders. In Episode 4, she uses her hard-boiled common sense to convince Matt to join the fight — or at the very least, fess up that he’s Daredevil. Later in Episode 5, she’s the only one who steps in to stop him from killing Sowande. She leans forward and speaks right into his ear like a whiskey-soaked Jiminy Cricket. Matt is nothing but not ruled by his conscience. Later, when they’re questioning Lexi, she thoughtfully recounts Matt’s relationship with his father to convince the girl to open up. The moment makes Matt realize that he can fully trust in Jessica.
That’s just the emotional bridge we see built between the characters in the Marvel miniseries. What really made me think of them as a possible couple was their banter. A perfect example is when Matt finally dons his trademark Daredevil suit to help rescue Trish and Jessica from Murakami in Episode 5, Jess gives him a once over and then dogs him. “The scarf looked better…Nice ears.”
“They’re horns,” he says back in a deadpan.
This kind of sniping – and its perfectly timed delivery — fits in with romantic comedy traditions. It matches the rat-a-tat flirtatious banter of old school screwball rom-coms or even evokes Shakespeare’s Benedict and Beatrice. For lack of a better word, there’s a zing to their interactions that leans ever-so-slightly into foreplay.
Maybe it’s just a personal predilection, but I’ve never been one for swooning romance or cheesy displays of affection. My idea of real, hot, sexy love is meeting a true equal: someone who will stand by your side, but still call you out on your bullshit. In doing so, they celebrate what’s good in you by pulling out what could be greater in you. Matt and Jessica spend most of Marvel’s The Defenders doing this for one another. They push each other to snap out of their self-indulgent griping and to trust in one another.
But it all comes back to the easy chemistry between Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter. I would never have expected Daredevil and Jessica Jones to fit together in any kind of harmony, but these two actors have a natural rhythm together. If Netflix’s Marvel Universe continues to loyally cling to the original comics as inspiration, Matt and Jess will never be more than allies. I’m fine with that. But when sometimes you have to root for a television adaptation to make the most of the actors they have. In that vein, I hope that maybe — just maybe — we’ll get a more fiery flirtation between these two characters in seasons to come.
