Jessica Jones: What Does Krysten Ritter's Orphan Black Sequel Mean For MCU Future?

Television fans just got a surprising update on Thursday, with the reveal that Krysten Ritter will star in and executive produce Orphan Black: Echoes, a spinoff series of BBC America's award-winning hit Orphan Black. The news definitely surprised fans for a lot of reasons, especially since it will be her highest-profile television job since Jessica Jones, the Marvel series that she starred in from 2015 to 2019. Jessica and other shows under Marvel's "Defenders" umbrella have been the topic of conversation as of late, with a move from Netflix to Disney+ and a greenlight of a Daredevil: Born Again sequel series provoking the questions of what other elements from those shows could return. Ritter's take on Jessica Jones has definitely remained one of the most highly-anticipated things that fans want to see return — but with the actress attached to Echoes, could that still happen?

Rumors have swirled about Ritter potentially returning as Jessica Jones for a while now, especially as upcoming projects within the Marvel Cinematic Universe have returned to street level storytelling. A years-long rumor has been that Ritter could appear in the upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (which, coincidentally, stars original Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany). More recently, fans have wondered if she could return in the forthcoming Echo series, with Charlie Cox's confirmed return as Matt Murdock / Daredevil reportedly involving him "searching for an old acquaintance", who many assume might be Jessica. And beyond that, there's obviously Daredevil: Born Again itself, which could continue the dynamic that Matt and Jessica previously had onscreen.

With She-Hulk's premiere just a matter of weeks away, any potential appearance from Ritter would not be impacted by her new role in Echoes, which has yet to start filming. The same could safely be said for Echo, which began filming earlier this spring and is poised to be released in the middle of next year.

With Daredevil: Born Again, things get a bit more uncertain — the eighteen-episode show is set to be released in early 2024, with production reportedly expected to begin either later this year or in early 2023. If anything, Born Again's filming schedule could end up overlapping with Echoes' pretty significantly, if the latter show is still on track for a 2023 release date. That certainly wouldn't mean that Ritter cameoing in Born Again would be impossible, but it would probably complicate the logistics of it, and it would realistically rule out her possibly having a significant supporting role on the show. The same could also be said for additional Marvel projects going forward, especially if Echoes becomes successful enough to get multiple seasons — a hypothetical cameo from Ritter could certainly still happen, but it would have to be in relation to her new show's schedule.

We'll ultimately have to wait and see if and how Ritter might return to the MCU — much less exactly what that would look like, given her now getting a starring role on another genre favorite. If nothing else, Ritter's role on Echoes now has fans even more incentivized to see her share the screen with Maslany, regardless of whatever franchise that occurs in.

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