Last year, fans of the Marvel Netflix shows got two big surprises. For one, Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Secondly, Hawkeye brought back Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, making him the big bad of the series. While they may or may not be the exact same characters from Daredevil, what matters the most is that both of them are back as their iconic characters, regardless of canon status.
The two of them returning immediately presents the question: who's next? Several previous Netflix stars have spoken out over the years about their hypothetical return to the MCU and if they'd want to do anything like that. Among them have been the likes of Jon Bernthal's Punisher, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, and Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing.
Arguably the second most popular Defender behind Cox's Daredevil is Kristen Ritter's Jessica Jones, who recently voiced how much she'd love to return if the opportunity arose.
Well, now, thanks to an Instagram post, theories have started to swirl that her return may be sooner rather than later.
Jessica Jones On Her Way Back to Marvel?
As discovered by The Cosmic Circus, an Instagram post shared on March 1 shows Kristen Ritter receiving a very Jessica Jones-inspired makeover at Deep Roots ATX Salon in Austin, Texas.
Ritter's leather jacket, an iconic piece of apparel for Jessica Jones, is noteworthy, as is the purple shirt underneath.
Even Ritter's black-bluish hair looks just like it did in the former Netflix series—though it is worth noting that the actress' natural hair color is in fact black.
While this is far from confirmation of the character's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has sent some Jessica Jones fans into a theory spree speculating what could unfold for Ritter's MCU future.
Jessica Jones Back on the Case?
So could this actually be a sign of everyone's favorite private investigator coming back? Let's break it down.
The first to note is how Kristen Ritter was last seen in Austin, Texas filming the HBO Max series Love and Death with Elizabeth Olsen in late February. There, she sported both a different hairstyle and color—so a purposeful change has been made at the very least.
But why prep for a hypothetical Marvel role in Texas? There isn't anything Marvel-related filming there, at least not known to the masses. Even with the other projects currently filming worldwide, and those upcoming, there isn't an obvious place to put the character.
Sure, she could pop up in Secret Invasion, but that could be an awkward place to reinsert her character. The other projects that are currently filming, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, don't seem like natural fits either. The most obvious place would be She-Hulk, but the series finished shooting some time ago.
At the very least, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has publicly stated that he hasn't ruled out bringing back Jessica Jones, or her other Defender allies, in the future. Hopefully, Daredevil's return is only the start—though, it might be best to leave Iron Fist in a different timeline.
For those wanting to re-watch The Defenders and its various sister shows, the entire Netflix library of Marvel series will be hitting Disney+ on March 16.
