With the incredible success of Disney and Marvel Studios' massive, multi-franchise mapping Marvel Cinematic Universe, the rising tide of popularity has resulted in multiple comic books, video games, television shows, and mini-series. The company has been finding new and exciting ways to continue delivering its colorful and fun universe to new audiences via different forms of media.
One example of this is with Marvel's new audio-comic outings through Serial Box. The first release was Marvel's Thor: Metal Gods followed quickly by Marvel's Black Widow: Bad Blood. The success of those two series led to the launch of Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire, seemingly suggesting that the company has no intention of slowing down their work on the new platform.
In the case of Playing With Fire, the story mainly focuses on the hard-drinking private investigator, but the Devil of Hell's Kitchen also plays a part. With Matt Murdock's Daredevil being a blind character, Marvel brought in a writer who was deaf/blind named Elsa Sjunneson in order to authenticate the character's disability.
We got the awesome opportunity to chat with Sjunneson, and we asked a lot about the project while learning many interesting things about her disability. Check out the author's comments for yourself below!
Joe: As a writer who is most used to print, what can you tell us about the storytelling medium that Serial Box provides?
Elsa Sjunneson: It's exciting to me because you get to have that built-in audio component. I'm deaf/blind, so being able to create materials that are accessible to people in my community is always a goal for me. And having the guarantee that people can listen to it or read it and make a choice for themselves what's most accessible is an essential part of me.
Joe: I understand your writing contribution to Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire is in regards to Daredevil. Could you go into more detail about what that entails?
Elsa Sjunneson: Sure! Matt Murdock is a character I was excited to get to work with and develop. Because my career has been built on creating a good representation of blindness in the media, and having the opportunity to play with one of the most-known blind characters in the world is a tremendous honor and a privilege. And frankly, I get to play with a character I've been excited about for a long time. So I did get to work on showing how Matt Murdock uses adaptive devices, and I get to have him be a part of the world, which is fun.
Joe: If you had your choice to create another Serial Box outing for a different Marvel character, who would you choose?
Elsa Sjunneson: I mean, obviously I'd love to write a Daredevil series. I'd like to work on a Daredevil comic. It was enjoyable to get to focus on him.
Joe: You have won Hugo, British Fantasy, and Aurora Awards for your writing. For fans of this project, which of your prior works would you suggest checking out?
Elsa Sjunneson: For folks that want to explore more of my work, definitely read Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. It's not connected to Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire at all other than I wrote a disabled character, but it's an essential piece of work, and it won multiple awards. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that we were able to highlight the experience of disabled writers in the science fiction writing community both as creators and as people.
Joe: If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about the obstacles you are faced with as a successful deaf/blind writer in the industry?
Elsa Sjunneson: So, yeah. There are little things like the fact that doing copy edits takes more time because I am low vision. I do use technology a little bit differently.
Representation is always going to be a challenge. I'm currently writing a book called Alone in the Light, which is a memoir, and it's about how our media portrays disability and how that affects the way that non-disabled people look at disability as a framework for society.
Whenever I go viral on twitter, someone will eventually say something about how I'm not blind because I'm using the internet. I face a lot of misconceptions because people assume I'm like Helen Keller even though I'm talking to you on the phone.
Joe: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Elsa Sjunneson: I've got a memoir coming out in 2021. People can follow me on Twitter @snarkbat. I do lots of threads about disability and representation, and I'm generally snarky!
What do you guys think of these comments from Elsa Sjunneson? Share your thoughts in the comments and be sure to check out the preview for Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire below!
Marvel’s Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire is a 16-episode story you can read OR listen to on your phone and on the web.
In the series launching on Serial Box, Jessica Jones has made an art of ignoring her particular brand of super-powered trauma. But these days, she’s giving the whole “self-care” thing a try. Seeing a therapist, finding healthier coping mechanisms (read: no business-hours drinking), working toward not wanting to punch things all the time. Maybe even taking the occasional case that won’t eat her alive.
A simple missing persons case seems like just the ticket. But when a boy’s body turns up in what looks like a cut-and-dried OD, Jessica can’t let it go and dives headlong into an obsessive search for answers.
Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire episodes #1-5 are currently available with the full 16-episode season costing $9.99. Find it on Google Play