Orphan Black: Echoes' Krysten Ritter Reveals How Jessica Jones Influenced Her Performance

The former Marvel star teases her new sci-fi role.

By Jenna Anderson

This weekend brings the debut of Orphan Black: Echoes, a new spinoff series to the beloved BBC America adventure Orphan Black. This time around, the central protagonist in Echoes' twisty story is Lucy, brought to life by genre TV veteran Krysten Ritter. While speaking with ComicBook about her role on Orphan Black: Echoes, Ritter revealed that her experience on the fan-favorite Marvel series Jessica Jones played an influential role in her approach to leading the series, as well as stunt work.

"When you're number one on the call sheet, especially with something like Jessica Jones, it's a machine," Ritter explained. "You're getting to flex your muscles in such a big way, and you really learn, on the production side, and how to make your days, and all of that. So that, of course, informs anytime I go to set now. I knew that there was a stunt sequence in the first episode and I was like, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I'll be okay for that stuff." And I love it. I love doing stunts, and so I got to do them so much, obviously, on Jessica Jones, and those were always such exciting, exhilarating, thrilling days. So getting to do that here, too, was really fun for me."

Will Krysten Ritter Return to Jessica Jones?

With Daredevil: Born Again slated to debut on Disney+ next year, plenty of speculation has swirled surrounding the potential return of the other Defenders stars to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a 2023 appearance on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Ritter indicated that she is more than willing to reprise her role, if given the opportunity. 

"I have no idea. I hope so," Ritter revealed. "I think that people love Jessica. I know it because I live it. Honestly, I don't know. Marvel, they're so secretive. I don't know. I'm just putting it out there that, of course, I would be there in a second. I'd have my boots and jacket on, ready to rock."

What Is Orphan Black: Echoes About?

Orphan Black: Echoes follows a group of women as they weave their way into each other's lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unraveling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal. Ritter stars as Lucy, a woman who has an unimaginable origin story and is trying to find her place in the world. Anna Fishko will serve as showrunner and writer of Orphan Black: Echoes, while series co-creator John Fawcett will return as an executive producer and director. The series also stars Keeley Hawes, Amanda Fix, and Avon Jogia.

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"I also appreciate that it's an existing franchise," Ritter previously said of working on the show. "There's so much TV; it's so hard to launch new shows, and this is a cool opportunity to do this next installation in the franchise. It's wildly different. There are going to be Easter eggs, but it's really a completely new story, new everything. But the first one was so good; it's a really interesting, cool world to walk into."

Orphan Black: Echoes will premiere on Sunday, June 23rd on AMC, AMC+, and BBC America.

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