MADAME WEB And JESSICA JONES Director SJ Clarkson Is "Thrilled" Marvel's Netflix Shows Are Canon (Exclusive)

MADAME WEB And JESSICA JONES Director SJ Clarkson Is "Thrilled" Marvel's Netflix Shows Are Canon (Exclusive)

Madame Web director SJ Clarkson helmed the first two episodes of both Jessica Jones and The Defenders and tells us why she's "thrilled" that they're now considered canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

By JoshWilding - Feb 07, 2024 04:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Jessica Jones

Before helming Madame Web for Sony Pictures, filmmaker SJ Clarkson entered the comic book realm by helming the opening two episodes of both Jessica Jones and The Defenders.

The filmmaker helped set the tone for those shows and has taken what she learned there and brought it to the latest Marvel movie from the studio behind the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Venom franchises.

We spoke with SJ last week and, while we'll be bringing you the full interview soon, the director also shared her thoughts with us about Marvel Studios making Marvel Television's Netflix shows canon in the MCU. That became official after Echo's launch on Disney+ and we've since seen Daredevil: Born Again pull characters directly from Netflix's Daredevil

"Oh, well that's amazing," Clarkson tells us in the video below. "I mean, I have to say, it was my introduction into comics was Jessica Jones. I'd read the script but I'd never actually read Alias. I got the big tomb that was Alias and I loved it. I literally read it and thought, 'This is one of the most clever, brilliant, beautiful [pieces of] storytelling I've seen in a long time.'"

"The way that the characters are portrayed, the framing, the use of cinematic angles in a comic book. And the brevity of storytelling in terms of the dialogue. the narration, and actually getting to the point of what somebody says and what a character really thinks and means in that moment...I thought that was really...that really sparked my interest," she continues.

"Of course, I'm so thrilled to hear that they're canon. Jessica, of course, being my first, I'll always have a special place for her."

Clarkson's work in this corner of the Marvel Universe was undeniably significant and it's clear she's excited to see those characters and stories brought into the MCU.

During our conversation, the Madame Web helmer also discusses Spider-Man Easter Eggs, the movie's costumes, her spin-off and sequel hopes, and much more. Again, you can check that out above!

Meanwhile, in another universe...In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing's most enigmatic heroines.

The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures...if they can all survive a deadly present.

Madame Web arrives in cinemas on February 14.

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DocSpock
DocSpock - 2/7/2024, 4:40 PM

Lotta Madame Web attention here.

I smell poo.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 2/7/2024, 5:47 PM
@DocSpock - poo is definitely bad
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/7/2024, 4:45 PM
Man, this movie has everything going for it.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 2/7/2024, 4:50 PM
Canon means [frick]-all for Marvel nowadays when everything is canon, all the flaws are canon also along with the continuity problems. All it does is saddle the MCU with even more contradictions.

Disney cannot create anymore, so all they are doing is leeching off popular prior media, while being so utterly toxic that it decides to kill off everything people liked and mock what was good about it.

For all the faults with Madame Web at least its attempting something. You can see why the concept exists and you have actors who are passionate about the character such as Sydney Sweeney.
EskimoJ
EskimoJ - 2/7/2024, 5:24 PM
@Scarilian - What are they attempting?

You've typed a lot of words with no substance.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 2/7/2024, 5:32 PM
@Scarilian - Netflix shows don’t contradict anything tho 🤷‍♂️

Half of them just sucked
JFerguson
JFerguson - 2/7/2024, 5:52 PM
@FireandBlood - i'll gladly take half of the netflix shows sucking over all of the marvel disney plus finales sucking
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 2/7/2024, 6:00 PM
@JFerguson - You must’ve missed Loki. That’s okay, but you can’t really form a proper opinion on those Disney+ finals until you do.

Also me, personally, I would rather take some halfway decent/outright good shows like most the Disney+ ones that didn’t completely stick the landing over half those shitty ones Netflix produced that’s down there with garbage like Secret Invasion.
JFerguson
JFerguson - 2/7/2024, 6:11 PM
@FireandBlood - nope i didn't miss loki :) And even though I, as a fan, enjoyed it the best out of all other Disney+ finals... Drop in viewership tell a different story. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/streaming-tv-ratings-oct-2-8-2023-1235635865/

harrowing 39% drop. Yes, secret invasion was shit, but if disney wants to really satisfy fans and increase investment in the franchise, they will need to offer more than halfway decent that can't stick a landing

FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 2/7/2024, 6:18 PM
@JFerguson - They did. It’s called Loki, both seasons.

Acting like all these Netflix shows besides Daredevil didn’t lose their entire viewership
JFerguson
JFerguson - 2/7/2024, 6:25 PM
@FireandBlood - I honestly couldn’t tell you about marvel Netflix viewership. Netflix only partnered with Nielsen ratings a year after all those shows left for the D+

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/10/13/netflix-shows-on-ad-supported-plan-to-get-nielsen-ratings-in-2023.html
Origame
Origame - 2/7/2024, 6:47 PM
@Scarilian - ...what contradictions are being added now?
Slotherin
Slotherin - 2/7/2024, 9:25 PM
@Scarilian - huh?
Scarilian
Scarilian - 2/8/2024, 2:03 PM
@EskimoJ -
"What are they attempting?"

To tell a Superhero Time Travel story-line with elements of Final Destination thrown in. Madame Web quite bluntly having her victory achieved through creating a web of connections with people. A villain who is not just a copy/paste of the hero but evil as with most villains in Superhero media.

I did not think these aspects would need to be explained so bluntly.

@FireandBlood -
@Origame -
@Slotherin -

I mean, for a start, Punisher Season 2 ends post-snap. The final scene is 'three months later' placing it almost immediately after the snap yet from what we see of the world it's clearly not post-snap.

The Netflix shows frankly do not work with the MCU continuity wise, massive events happen and are never acknowledged or mentioned. You have the big question of why none of the events of the MCU rub off onto the events of the Netflix shows.

Agents Of Shield at least tried for a while to stay connected to the MCU but it eventually gave up, but the result is the same, the Netflix shows are set functionally in their own universe. This is why we did not see any of them show up for any moments or be impacted by huge developments in the timeline - such as showing up for Infinity War or being impacted by the events of Civil War's registration act. Kingpin never mentioning Echo despite her being super important to the point of him willing to let her kill him for example.

It's akin to saying Ghostrider 2007 is canon. At best you can claim it's the multiverse (at which point everything is canon so it makes it all meaningless) OR you wind up just pretending that the continuity is fine that these shows/films never were referenced or had any connection to the world at large until the characters needed them.

Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 2:56 PM
@Scarilian - that is really nitpicky. Even the shows in Canon barely showed the effects of the snap.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 2/10/2024, 10:17 AM
@Origame -
That's kinda the point though. If it's all in the same canon, it should address these aspects. A canon takes the positives and negatives from everything else it is associated with.

If The Snap and the Blip and Civil War can happen with nobody batting an eye, yet the events of Winter Soldier are somehow important enough to be a focal point of Agents Of Shield, then you undermine the weight of the stories you are telling because the canon breaks.

What's the point of Daredevil: Born Again being canon to the Netflix shows and at the same time canon to the MCU if neither continuity it's trying to connect work together.
Origame
Origame - 2/10/2024, 10:32 AM
@Scarilian - ...but again, the stuff that was made to be Canon didn't address it. So I really don't get the standard that stuff that wasn't written to be Canon should be the parts that need to address it.

Ffs, even endgame, the one film that genuinely addressed the effects of the snap didn't even bother parts of the time as apparently Japan is just fine post snap 5 years after.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 2/13/2024, 5:44 AM
@Origame -
"the stuff that was made to be Canon didn't address it"

True, but that's just an example of why the continuity and main appeal of the connected universe has died.
Origame
Origame - 2/13/2024, 6:20 AM
@Scarilian - ...ok
JFerguson
JFerguson - 2/7/2024, 5:51 PM
Wow SJ Clarkson here looks more like a comic acurate version of madame web than dakota



Anyway, I feel the netflix shows are only canon because marvel is realizing now they are making too much disney plus shit as it is already. No one is finishing all episodes of hawkeye. no one is finishing all episodes of secret invasion.

VIEWERSHIP DROP IS AT A PEAK FOR MCU ON DISNEY PLSU. Doesn't matter if they slip in 6 more series to canon. And good. I'll gladly drudge through 2 seasons of iron fist before i re-touch she hulk with a 6 mile pole

JDL
JDL - 2/7/2024, 6:01 PM
@JFerguson - Hey I sort of liked She-Hulk ! As for the reason for Sainthood I think you are pretty close to it. I 'think' they wanted the option open to redo those series and time has shown them that dog wan't hunt. But that said there is huge difference between canon to the Earth used in the movies and canon to another Earth in the Multiverse. Has it been made clear which is which ?
JFerguson
JFerguson - 2/7/2024, 6:39 PM
@JDL - good point on other earths. I think general consensus is that the “MCU Complete Timeline” category listing on Disney plus, where the Netflix shows are now shown, refers to the sacred timeline on 616

Feige retelling his own DD stories with same actors wasn’t going to work imo. These actors are not getting younger so might as well use the old show as a launchpad
JDL
JDL - 2/7/2024, 7:58 PM
@JFerguson - Yeah but does MCU Complete Timeline” category listing on Disney Plus make it Ironclad ? After all the MCU is the 'Multiverse' now. As for your other point, I agree, short of a complete MCU reboot, putting others in those characters was and is a non-starter.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/7/2024, 6:49 PM
@MotherGooseUPus - First one was good, 2nd filmed killed all the good will I had for it during the first 10 minutes.
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 2/7/2024, 7:41 PM
@HashTagSwagg - why? They showed from their perspective how it started in their town and showed the relationship between the families.. how'd that kill it?
McMurdo
McMurdo - 2/7/2024, 8:46 PM
@HashTagSwagg - second film was better imo
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/7/2024, 9:31 PM
@MotherGooseUPus - - The first film, the creatures felt dangerous, you felt fear for the family. This film feels like a Michael Bay movie and the plot armour got insanely ridiculous, right from the start it was just constant close calls where they just about avoided getting killed by the creatures time and time again because the plot inserted a background character and made them do something stupid, giving the heroes the perfect chance to escape. The problem with that drawn out opening is we already know the whole family lives because its a flash back so there's no tension. They try to build up the other threat of other humans being dangerous yet when they finally show up they're onscreen for like 3 mins before they get wiped out by the creatures like incompetent idiots who've never seen them before yet they somehow lasted that long. Then it's just rinse and repeat, they meet the new people on that Island but it's all peaceful this time, until the plot says a boat carrying one of the creatures magically drifts to this exact location and then were treated to seeing more dumb people getting taken out. The ending is pretty much a repeat of the first except it's the kids doing it this time. The whole story just felt so paper thin, like they knew the first was a shit so they just quickly shit out a part 2 without giving it enough justification because they knew they'd most likely get a third film anyway.
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/7/2024, 6:52 PM
It's only been done to make Echo seem better than it actually is.
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