Jessica Jones is an anomaly In the Marvel Cinematic Universe in that she doesn’t have decades of history in the comics behind her giving her a solid narrative foundation. She’s a fairly recent addition to the Marvel Universe in the grand scheme of things, and she is far better known for her Netflix series and her inclusion in The Defenders than, say, her tenure in the New Avengers comic. Her Netflix series was so good that her comics résumé hardly matters, however. Jessica Jones was an awesome modern noir tale with a social justice conscience that felt the most relevant of all the Netflix Marvel shows, so it’s awesome to see her included in a Marvel Legends wave.
Let’s take a closer look.
Packaging is standard Hasbro Legends packaging. It is funny to see the figure so dwarfed by the included Build-a-Figure piece — I don’t think we’ve seen a pairing this lopsided since the ToyBiz X-23 way back in 2005. That brief chuckle aside, box … meet trashcan.
Out of the packaging, Jessica looks great and faithful to her on-screen appearances. The only thing missing is her gray scarf, but that’s an easy thing to remedy. She looks every bit as tough as Krysten Ritter does in the series, and her leather biker jacket is completely convincing. What’s especially cool is the figure actually looks like Ritter. Hasbro has really gotten good at capturing on-screen likenesses of the characters they’re rendering in plastic.
Like I said, this looks so much like Krysten Ritter in hand that it’s almost creepy. Everything — the sculpt and paint applications — comes together to deliver one of the better-looking female figures Hasbro has produced yet.
Jessica is rather light in the accessory department, coming with just the Man-Thing Build-a-Figure piece. It would have been cool if she had come with at least her scarf, but aside from that, I’m not sure what Hasbro could have really packed in with her — a can of beer, maybe?
Now, her scarf. I’ve seen pics where people have used the scarf from the Star Wars Black Series Jyn Erso figure. That requires some cutting with a razor, so, while it does look good, I didn’t feel like sacrificing my Jyn for that purpose. What I did have sitting around, however, are plenty of old socks. I picked a gray sock, cut out a small section with some scissors, rolled it into shape, and voilá — a scarf. It may be a little too fuzzy, so it’s not as screen accurate as I’d like, but it works for the time being until I can find a better material to use. Now, I understand many won’t opt for this solution because it involves soft goods, so if that’s the case, then the Jyn Erso route totally works too.
Most of her base body comes from the Marvel Legends Mary Jane figure, but there are what looks to be a few new parts. Her arms, boot cuffs, jacket “vest” piece, head, and feet look to be new. Her legs and upper and lower torso come straight from MJ. The reuse is appropriate and the new elements do well to make Jessica feel like much more than just a repaint.
I know there is a comic-accurate Jessica Jones on the way in the form of “Jewel” in the Amazon-exclusive Defenders box set, but I’ll still be displaying this Jessica Jones with my comic-based Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Daredevil. She doesn’t look out of place, and I just like the look of them all together.
The Man-Thing series is currently hitting retailers everywhere, but be aware that she is packed one-per-case, so she may be a little on the difficult side to track down. I was lucky and found a couple fresh cases at Walgreens, which made me happy since she was one of my most-wanted figures of the wave along with Blade, and I was able to pick the one with the better paint apps. I think she’s worth the trouble to track down, so don’t hesitate if you see her. If online shopping is more your speed, Jessica Jones can be scored here:
