Marvel does as Marvel does, and one thing that Marvel is known to do is crossover their characters. Marvel Studios has made a name for themselves after creating one cohesive universe that has spanned almost 20 films over the last decade. To a lesser extent, Netflix tried to do that with their Marvel series, teaming “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Daredevil,” and “Iron Fist” into their recent “The Defenders” series. After the lukewarm response to that series, no word has come out on whether or not Netflix would try a second season of the team-up.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Jessica Jones herself, Krysten Ritter claims that there won’t be a season 2 of “The Defenders.” She says, “Y’know, I had a great time doing ‘The Defenders’ and honestly, it was such a good experience that I would even do it again. I don’t think we are doing it again. It was never intentioned to do it again, but, you know, if I was given another opportunity, I would.”
Ritter, more than any of the Netflix/Marvel actors, has a big reason to be skeptical of going back to “The Defenders” well, so to speak. Her “Jessica Jones” series is fairly critically-acclaimed and thought of as the clear best of the bunch, in regards to the other ‘Defenders’ series. Knowing that, it’s obvious that Ritter is interested in perhaps distancing herself from any team-ups in the future.
“My heart is in ‘Jessica Jones,’ but I did have a great time doing ‘The Defenders’ with the guys. We had a good time. It is what it is,” she continued.
“Jessica Jones” is about to launch season 2, and while we weren’t the biggest fans of the new season, the show is expected to do big numbers for Netflix. It’s probable that Netflix would like to relax on the crossovers and focus on making each of the five standalone series the best they can be. And Netflix is still heavily invested in their success, with all of these series getting multiple seasons. Yes, even “Iron Fist.”
For the time being, enjoy the solo series, and maybe if the story is good enough, “The Defenders” could rise again.