Jessica Jones was created by superstar comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis for an original — and very adult — comic called Alias.
She's hardly the only major comic book character Bendis has created; he's also credited with Powers, now a hit TV series on PlayStation Network, Ultimate Spider-Man's Miles Morales and Daisy "Quake" Johnson, who plays a pivotal role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., among others.
The story of Jessica Jones, being played on Netflix's show by Krysten Ritter, is something of a cautionary tale for young, inexperienced superheroes. Gaining her powers as a child from the old "collision with radioactive chemicals" gag, she spent some time in a coma and awoke to find she had super strength and the ability to fly. She also had greater resistance to damage than ordinary humans, though she wasn't invulnerable.
Jessica went to the same high school as Peter Parker, and it was watching Spider-Man's crime-fighting career that made her want to use her powers to help people. She adopted the superhero identity "Jewel" and had a few small-time adventures before the encounter that would change her life irrevocably. She came across an old enemy of Daredevil's named Zebediah Killgrave, aka the Purple Man, who will be played on AKA Jessica Jones by David Tennant.
Killgrave possesses powerful mind control abilities and a sadistic nature. He put his whammy on poor Jessica and held her captive, under his thrall, for eight long months. During that time, she was tortured psychologically and forced to do countless things against her will. Eventually, Killgrave's control over her proved so strong that she couldn't tell the difference between what she wanted and what Killgrave wanted.
One day, Killgrave tasked Jessica with killing Daredevil, but instead of Matt Murdock's law practice, he mistakenly sent her to Avengers Mansion. In the midst of her attack, she encountered Scarlet Witch, Vision, Iron Man and Carol Danvers, who, at that time was known as Ms. Marvel (today, she's Captain Marvel). It was Danvers who realized what was going on, and she protected Jessica, bringing her to S.H.I.E.L.D. and had psychic X-Man Jean Grey sort out her psychological issues.
After she was freed from Killgrave's control, she struggled to return to a normal life. She gave up on superheroics altogether and became a private detective. Due to her connections to heroes, she frequently found herself working for superhero clients or their associates. It was during this time that she met and fell in love with Power Man and "Hero for Hire," Luke Cage.
Side Note No. 1: Luke Cage is the third Marvel superhero getting his own Netflix series. Obviously, he'll be debuting in AKA Jessica Jones first. Cage is played by actor Mike Colter.
Her relationship with Cage, who also possesses super strength but also boasts unbreakable skin, progressed until she became pregnant with his child. Before the baby was born, the two married. Jessica later gave birth to a baby girl, which they named Danielle, after Cage's best friend Danny Rand.
Side Note No. 2: Danny Rand is better known by his superhero identity as martial arts expert Iron Fist. Iron Fist is set to be the fourth Marvel/Netflix series.
With Luke eventually becoming a member of the Avengers, and even leading his own Avengers team, Jessica's life became further complicated. She's dabbled in heroics here and there over the years, though usually only when a member of her family is in grave danger. She still has very little confidence in her super-abilities and has lost fine control over her power of flight.
It's safe to assume that Jessica's backstory and work as a private detective will be covered on AKA Jessica Jones, but her relationship with Luke Cage will continue well into his series (and beyond). Marvel and Netflix will have to drastically alter quite a lot of her origin story since Spider-Man, Carol Danvers, Jean Grey, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. play no part in Netflix's buildup to The Defenders. Don't be surprised if Daredevil is given one or more of those roles since he's available.
Netflix has not yet announced a start date for AKA Jessica Jones, which is currently in production. Insiders believe it is likely to launch in the fall of 2015.
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