The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Melissa Rosenberg serving as showrunner.
Krysten Ritter stars as Jones, with Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Eka Darville also returning from the first season, as well as Wil Traval and David Tennant in guest roles.
[24] Rosenberg and the season's writers were halfway through the writing process by August 2016,[25] with the scripts completed by the end of October 2016.
[28][33] As Kilgrave does appear in the season, Rosenberg felt it was important to have him return to "be that mirror again" for Jones, as he is "such a part of her construction and her dilemma.
"[33] On Jones becoming famous after her heroics in the first season, Ritter said, "She keeps her circle small because she doesn't want people in her life, so there's no textbook on how to deal with new popularity or new eyes on you.
[25] She added that Jones' killing of Kilgrave at the end of the first season was "a life changing experience" and something that would affect the character going forward.
[6] In August 2017, David Tennant was confirmed to be reprising his role as Kilgrave,[15] appearing as a hallucination,[42] with Wil Traval also returning as Will Simpson.
[13] Recurring characters in the season included Rebecca De Mornay reprising her role as Dorothy Walker,[12] Kevin Chacon as Vido Arocho,[11] and Callum Keith Rennie as Karl Malus.
[10] Elden Henson and Rob Morgan reprised their roles as Foggy Nelson and Turk Barrett from previous Marvel Netflix series, respectively.
[47] Approaching the second season, Rosenberg wanted to increase the number of female directors working on the series as a further push for representation.
Another member of the production suggested that the series book only female directors for the season, which Rosenberg "hadn't contemplated [as a] concept prior to that conversation".
The artists included, in respective order for each episode: Stephanie Hans, Jen Bartel, Elizabeth Torque, Kate Niemczyk, Colleen Doran, Erica Henderson, Audrey Mox, Joyce Chin, Jenny Frison, Amy Reeder, Emanuela Lupacchino, June Brigman, and Annie Wu.
[8] The second season of Jessica Jones was released on March 8, 2018,[50] to coincide with International Women's Day,[51] on the streaming service Netflix worldwide, in Ultra HD 4K and high-dynamic-range video.
The website's critical consensus reads, "While Jessica Jones is a slower burn with less focus than its inaugural season, its enticing new character arc more fully details the most charismatic Defender.
"[57] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 70 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
However, as with previous Marvel Netflix series, the season suffered from pacing issues, featuring "a minimal or non-existent score, scenes that go on for too long, and a limited number of edits that add up to everything feeling like it's happening in real time.
[60] Digital Spy's Jo Berry said in her review, "While the beginning of the new season lacks the focus of the first, and is missing a truly menacing bad guy for Jessica to go up against, the new additions and expanded storylines don't detract from Ritter's powerhouse performance [...] Pacing quibbles aside, this is a darkly enjoyable return for Jessica Jones, thanks to the strong scripts, slick direction and Ritter's gripping performance.
He did praise the supporting cast, feeling Darville "has a standout performance" as Malcolm, with his connection to the larger storyline "surprising and enjoyable to watch", and also praising Taylor, adding it "wouldn't hurt to bring [Taylor] in" as her comics alter ego Hellcat, to help the season that "lags at the beginning".
[61] Conversely, Susana Polo from Polygon was left disappointed and bored by the early episodes, also noting the lack of compelling antagonist for the season.