Editor’s note: The following contains mentions of sexual assault.Fans have spent seven long, arduous years waiting for a continuation of Netflix’sDaredevilseries. Just shy of the critically acclaimed and culturally beloved series' official 10-year anniversary,Daredevil: Born Again’s two-part premiere is now upon us. Ever since Marvel Studios confirmed thatCharlie Cox’s Matt Murdock would once again battle Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) for the soul of Hell’s Kitchen, hopeful eyes have awaited news about similar revivals featuring characters from Netflix’sThe Defenderssaga. In January of last year,Jessica JonesstarKrysten Rittersent hearts racing on Instagram bywearing one of her character’s signature shirts, the video captioned with “IYKYK.” However, it soon emerged that the moment was a happy coincidence, not an Easter Egg teasing the announcement of Ritter reviving the role. TheBreaking Badactress just owns the shirt, andtold Colliderthat the fanbase’s enthusiastic response “means a lot [to me].The character means so much to me, as well. It’s funny that one little thoughtless Instagram story of my cute t-shirt that I love [got that reaction].”
A perceivedJessica Joneshint kicking up fervor is hardly surprising. Even thoughDaredevil’sgraphic violence, somber tone, and moral ambiguity opened the door for mature depictions of Marvel superheroes,its sister series left the door in infinitesimal splinters. Years beforeCaptain Marvel,WandaVision, orShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law, there was Jessica Jones, a traumatized, bleeding, reclusive, but ever-resilient private detective.Marvel’s first official woman-led and woman-created series still stands apartfor its unflinching approach to formidable topics, and for centering a protagonist forever changed by gendered violence. A naturally jaded contrarian, aggrieved by guilt, and firing one-liners as dry as California’s Death Valley, Jessica Jones is a singular heroine with a broken heart of gold. We need her back as much asshe deserves to return, and any potential return is as deserved as Matt Murdock’s highly anticipated resurrection.
‘Jessica Jones’ Is An Important And Daring Story
Created by writerBrian Michael Bendisand artistMichael Gaydosfor their 2001Aliascomic, and a long-term dream project for series creator and showrunnerMelissa Rosenberg, Jessica Jones' street-level concerns contrast with the earnest brightness of the MCU’s early films. LikeDaredevil,darkness, violence, and deathpermeate New York City’s every corner, and these plights aren’t convenient plot points but lasting effects that haunt our protagonists' steps and harrow out their pained souls — that’sThe Defenderssaga’sbread and butter. Unlike the preternaturally trained Matt Murdock, however, Jessica’s powers are almost incidental. The series' thematic bleakness, extensivefilm noir styling, and de-emphasizing of superhero tropes feel appropriately self-contained. Jessica might have enhanced strength, buther agonies are the horrifying commonalities virtually every woman faces. Her foremost villain is rape culture.
By adapting this character, Rosenberg swings for the fences by necessity. Even after the height of the Me Too movement’s awareness,Jessica Jonesis an essential and daring story for high-profile media to showcase— which only makes its return in 2025 and beyond more vital. In many ways,Jessica Jonesis a female fantasy. Jessica’s powers mean she can stroll down a street alone at night without fear.When met with male posturing, she rolls her eyes and turns the tables. Suddenly, she’s the one doing the intimidating, and the bewildered sexists are scrambling to catch up (or run away). In tandem, the series interrogates male reactions toliteral female empowerment.Kilgrave (David Tennant), a man capable of manipulating anyone’s free will, tempers the fantasy. An unsettling ability winds up in the hands of the worst person imaginable, and it legitimizes Kilgrave’s existing impulses. In a world already predisposed to absolving cishet white males of their crimes, Kilgrave’s whims have no restrictions or repercussions. He expects, he dominates, and he takes.
BeforeJessica Jonesbegins,Kilgrave subjected Jessica to his brainwashing for months. He held her captive and abused her sexually, physically, and emotionally. Season 1 tracks Kilgrave’s return from the “dead” and Jessica’s attempts to circumvent her abuser. Faced with a threat she can’t punch away, Jessica’s only weapon is her mind: something Kilgrave could effortlessly overpower. The only reason he doesn’t is that he craves her willing devotion. At every turn, he romanticizes himself. He couches his abuse in love, mocks consent, and deflects blame. The series, as an objective observer, never lets Kilgrave escape accountability. Pedantic language and childhood torment don’t excuse his perpetuation of the abuse cycle. For narrative purposes, he’srape culture personified— a sadist given free rein.
Jessica Jones Is A Uniquely Nuanced Protagonist Within The MCU
Returning to the female power fantasy that shouldn’t have to be a fantasy, Jessica becomes her own savior.Killing Kilgrave isn’t enough of an emotional purge to resolve her underlying trauma. The demons he left in her head and body aren’t magically fixed after Season 1.Triggers plunge Jessica into violent flashbacksand intrusive hallucinations. She grounds herself with cognitive therapy techniques as well as sympathetic, if poor, coping mechanisms, like alcohol and self-isolating behavior. It doesn’t matter when someone assures Jessica that Kilgrave isn’t physically nearby. “He’s always here,” she says, gesturing to her head.Captain Marvel,Black Widow, andShe-Hulkaddress similar themes through a blockbuster lens, and they’re necessary progressions. Still,Jessica Jones’s uncompromising nature makes it themost harrowing Marvel series, and Kilgrave the franchise’s most terrifying villain.
Reduced to her rawest parts, Jessica is a human disaster.She’s remarkably and honestly flawedfor remarkably honest reasons. Barely scraping through each day and doing so on a self-hating autopilot is emblematic of her PTSD.Her trauma manifests through her worst traits, which are also her most charming. She’s hot-tempered. She picks fights. Her undercutting dry sarcasm runs a mile a minute.Her blood-stained handsrule her waking hours and her dreams. Of course, erecting emotional barriers feels safer; she abhors vulnerability even though she longs for human connection. Being a damaged jerk is the only language she knows. Jessica Jones is an “unlikeable” female character — a predictable term applied to non-conforming women — who nurses a broken heart that’s overflowing with love despite its tattered and torn state.
No Scene Gives Me More Anxiety Than This One-Take From ‘Daredevil’
“You don’t get to destroy who I am.”
IfTaylor Swiftdescribed her albumThe Tortured Poets Departmentas “Female Rage: The Musical,” then Jessica Jones is “Female Rage: The Superheroine.” Because Jessica is indeed a hero — not despite her flaws and self-doubts, but because of them.The series understands that heroism isn’t a binary but a spectrum. Sometimes reactive, sometimes proactive, one truth holds:Jessica never stops fighting, even when she’s terrified. Her trauma informs her life without eternally ruling her future. Because she’s habitually splintering her broken parts, Jessica has supernatural inner strength.Jessica Jonesasks classic questions about heroism through a canted angle that avoids the traditionalcostume reveal endgame. Jessica’s uniform is her old, bland, and reliable clothes she dumps on the floor every night. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Krysten Ritter As Jessica Jones Is Perfect Casting
Ritter, previously a stand-out performer onBreaking BadandMelissa Rosenberg’s top choicefor Jessica Jones, is as much a casting coup as Charlie Cox. She slips into Jessica’s leather jacket, worn jeans, haunted eyes, and hunched shoulders like a glove. Her presence intimidates and compels. She demonstrates a remarkable range, shifting between acidic sarcasm and blistering vulnerability. She’s every inch the young woman floundering between antiheroine and heroine.Conveyed through Ritter’s empathetic commitment, Jessica feels real, cut from a relatable cloth. Her justifiable rage is reckoned with but not disparaged or sanitized.
Although there’s plenty of stories left to tell, after Season 1, Jessica does evolve and heal. She snatches peace and wisdom as they float past, grows through her strained relationships, andrediscovers the purpose she soughtbefore Kilgrave annihilated her life.Whether she’s outsmarting the patriarchy or running out of toilet paper, it’s a thrill to see her onscreen— a catharsis. We need her ugliest moments for her triumphs to resonate.
Disney+ Has Already Toyed With Bringing Back ‘Jessica Jones’
Rosenberg tried to adaptJessica Jonesfor ABC as early as 2010 before Netflix, and other Marvel creators at Disney+ have already considered folding the character into the MCU’s official continuity.Jeff Trammell, the showrunner behind Disney+’s animatedYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manseries,told ComicBookthat his team considered using Jessica in the role ultimately held by Nico Minoru (Grace Song), a practicing witch fromThe Runawayscomic series and one of Peter Parker’s (Hudson Thames) fellow students at Rockford T. Bales High School. Trammell explained: “In terms of who Peter’s classmate was almost going to be, we had a lot of conversation about,de-aging, Jessica Jones and using her in that spot.”
Nico and Peter’s comic book counterparts eventually run in the same circles, so although her involvement inYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manis an unconventional surprise, it’s not unheard of. Jessica, on the other hand, would have been welcome but far trickier to recalibrate for an upbeat animated series. Before Trammell confirmed this scrapped idea, rumors about Ritter’s involvement in Marvel’s next television phase emerged as early as 2022. The Hollywood Reporter tied her to theEchominiseries, which marked the first time Cox and D’Onofrio had shared a series — but not the screen — together sinceDaredevil’s third season. Recently, Marvel just announced that Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) has once again earnedhis own limited spin-offahead of Bernthal’s guest-starring role inBorn Again’s ensemble. The Netflix pieces are reassembling, and public goodwill is strong. Disney+ just needs to harness that energy and make Jessica’s into a fact as hard and cold as her clenched fist.
Disney+ Needs to Revive ‘Jessica Jones’ after ‘Daredevil: Born Again’
Even 10 years later,Jessica Jonesstill distinguishes itself from its peers. The series dives head-first without a helmet into areas Netflix’s other shows couldn’t touch for all their shadowy lighting. Itsdistinctive flair and psychological focus, Jessica’s unique necessity, and Ritter deserve a proper return. Frankly put,there’s no one like JessicainThe Defendersworld. Her closest Disney-era equivalent is Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), andDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessturns Wanda’s complex trauma and moral conflict into villainy. Give me Jessica, the detective exorcising her trauma and applying her cunning, brilliant mind to helping the overlooked survivors. She problem-solves with her brain and her fists. Her ongoing potential waits to be seized. Everyone lovesDaredevil; everyone should loveJessica Jones.
