[The following contains spoilers for the end of Marvel’s Jessica Jones.]
With the third season of Marvel’s Jessica Jones having just hit Netflix a few weeks ago, the streaming service’s all-too-brief foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is officially deader than Frank Castle’s family. Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones have all been canceled, and thanks to a stipulation in Netflix’s initial deal to make these shows with Disney, none of these characters can appear in any “non-Netflix series or film” for at least two years. Unfortunately, even once those two years are up, at least one of the Defenders might be staying in retirement.
Speaking with TVLine, Krysten Ritter said that she’s not all that interested in playing Jessica Jones again, saying, “I feel like I’ve played her, you know? I feel really good about it. I feel good about closing the door.” Of course, that would be a harder pill to swallow if the final season of Jessica Jones hadn’t ended on a pretty good note, with Jessica handing over Alias Investigations to her friend Malcolm and then buying a ticket out of the city… until a vision of the Purple Man reminded her of why she wanted to be a “superhero” in the first place. It was a nice way to cap off the series, with Jessica seemingly ending up in a better place—at least mentally—while still leaving the door open for future adventures, even if those adventures aren’t ones that us viewers will ever be able to see.
Some kind of eventual reunion with Jessica, Danny Rand, Daredevil, and Luke Cage on Disney+ would be nice (though it’s worth pointing out that nobody has ever indicated that something like that was a real possibility), but it’s not like the four of them were all that concerned with spending time together even when the shows were on. Oh sure, Luke Cage showed up outside Jessica’s door in the final season of her show and there was a quick reference to Danny Rand’s company, but there was also literally a scene where Hogarth implied that there are no other good lawyers in the Hell’s Kitchen area that Jessica and Trish could’ve turned to for legal help. Daredevil’s a lawyer! Call Daredevil!