‘She’s a badass’: Krysten Ritter on Jessica Jones’ legacy and her return in Daredevil: Born Again

When Jessica Jones premiered on Netflix in 2015, we were in the middle of a superhero boom.

Marvel had earlier that year released the second Avengers movie and had debuted funnyman Paul Rudd as a teeny Ant-Man. DC was gearing up for a showdown between Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman, and the Arrowverse on TV was already three shows deep.

Jessica Jones was not like any of those projects. The second of the then Netflix-Marvel pocket universe of steelier and seedier so-called street-level superhero shows, the series wasn’t just distinct for its female-led storytelling.

It was the story it was telling. Jessica Jones, based on the comic books, was a powered being with incredible strength, but she was also traumatised from an encounter with a villain who could control minds and actions.

For months, Jessica was held captive by Kilgrave as his plaything, exploiting her powers to do his bidding. He convinced himself it was a real relationship, but she called him out for what it really was: rape.

The show’s style as a neo-noir detective drama and the gravity of its themes of sexual assault and coercive control, PTSD, and how you reckon with the world after that kind of experience, were in every frame of Jessica Jones, and in every part of Krysten Ritter’s acclaimed performance.

“I feel so proud of the work that we did,” Ritter told The Nightly. “Season one (of Jessica Jones) is the best work I have done in my life.

“A lot of people who don’t watch superhero stuff still watched Jessica Jones or love Jessica Jones, which makes her a really interesting character and a really amazing entry point into this universe for people, especially the grittier, downtown misfit version.

“There was a real character drama and a real character psychological study, but then there’s the superhero stuff, which makes it just super everything. Everything is elevated and it gives you so much story to do when you can play on a plane like that.

“We always approached it like a drama first and the superhero story second.”

Jessica Jones ran for three seasons, and the character also appeared in the crossover series The Defenders. It ended when the Marvel-Netflix partnership wound up in 2019 because of corporate antics of the streaming wars with Disney then-primed to launch its own platform.

In 2021, the rights to those versions of the characters reverted back to Marvel, and by the end of that year, Charlie Cox’s iteration of Daredevil/Matt Murdock had a cameo in the third Spider-Man movie.

If Daredevil could be folded into the official Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, is that door open for Jessica Jones too?

“Once Charlie started to reappear (in the MU), I was hopeful that Jessica would follow suit because she is the coolest character ever,” Ritter said. “I just love her so much, and she’s unique and so beloved. There are really no characters like her anywhere, let alone in the MCU.”

It took another five years, but Ritter will make her return in Jessica Jones’ leather jacket and boots this week in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, and will appear in its remaining three episodes.

“We put the jacket on in the fitting and it was almost like a transformation, a time capsule, ‘Oh, here she is again’,” Ritter said, recalling it felt as if no time had passed. “Our first day on set with me and Charlie, we were on a rooftop looking out at the same view in the same neighbourhood as the original shows.

“We just looked at each other and he was like, ‘Ritter, can you believe we’re here?’. I was like, ‘It’s f...ing wild, it’s wild’, and what a gift.”

Ritter revealed that there had been conversations a while back about Jessica Jones returning to Marvel during production for the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, and she was immediately enthusiastic. She described those meetings as passionate because everyone knew there was still so much more you could do with the character.

“We had an opportunity to have a satisfying ending (in the original series) but there’s still so much story that already exists in the comics, there’s so much that she does, there are so many team-ups, there’s the added element of her relationship (with another Defenders hero) Luke Cage and having a child.

“Of course I would love to reprise this iconic character who I love and adore. Why not have a victory lap? Why not bring her back by popular demand. The fans wanted her so I was like, ‘Let’s rock and roll’.”

While those Netflix-Marvel shows, which also included Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Punisher, all existed in the same continuity, each series had its own tone. Daredevil and Jessica Jones, while different, were well-aligned, and in the crossover series The Defenders, it was Cox and Ritter who shared the most scenes together.

Even though it’s not her own show, Jessica Jones and Daredevil have a natural patter – hers is more sardonic – and the character was able to slot into Born Again with ease.

“What’s fun about playing in Daredevil’s sandbox is that show is much more action-driven than Jessica Jones was, and that’s a really exciting part of who she is. Getting to lean into the fighting, the action, and the superpowers even more is a blast to do.

“The action is much bigger and more violent and vicious in Daredevil, and that’s fun for me to do. It doesn’t happen very often, roles like that for women, and you don’t always have that level of action that still feels really grounded, and I love that about it.

“Jessica is also very funny, and getting to have the one-liners and bring some comedy, levity and sarcasm is another colour to her that serves the Daredevil tone very well.

“Everything that we did in my show, in the original show, it comes as a package. All of that work has been done and is informing everything she does now.”

Sometimes when a piece of pop culture is called groundbreaking, it’s hyperbole to get people excited or to generate clicks, but there really was something disruptive and original about Jessica Jones.

She was strong, yes, but she was also vulnerable. She was surly, had casual sex, drank too much and didn’t bother with niceties or cleanliness. She was what some studio head somewhere would’ve considered a nightmare sell, especially in the clean-cut Marvel world – an “unlikeable” woman.

But she was incredibly compelling, and all her foibles is what made her distinct and relatable. Heroes don’t have to be perfect and upstanding, they’re more interesting when they’re not.

“We got so lucky the writing was so fabulous, that the cinematography was so fabulous,” Ritter said. “I’ve been offered a lot of similar roles since then and nothing ever comes close.

“Here we are, still playing Jessica Jones, still talking about her, still getting stopped on the streets, I’m so grateful for it.”

The character’s three-episode appearance on Daredevil: Born Again feels like just a small taste of the potential, although there is no confirmation on what Jessica Jones’ future holds – Ritter said she would be “thrilled” if it continued.

If that doesn’t happen, or until it does, there’s always the original series and across those three seasons and The Defenders, there are 47 episodes to (re)watch. For newcomers, what a delight to discover Jessica Jones for the first time.

Because, as Ritter succinctly described her, “she’s a badass”.

Daredevil: Born Again and the original Jessica Jones series are streaming on Disney+