That's two Defenders down. Krysten Ritter, A.K.A Jessica Jones of Alias Investigations, is back on the case and reunited with Charlie Cox's Daredevil in newly surfaced set photos from Daredevil: Born Again season 2. Marvel Studios announced Ritter's return during the Disney upfronts presentation two weeks ago, and now paparazzi have snapped a photo of one half of the quartet that also included Mike Colter's Luke Cage and Finn Jones' Iron Fist in 2017's The Defenders.
Ritter, wearing Jessica's iconic black leather jacket, can be seen next to Cox's black-clad Daredevil on the Brooklyn, New York set. Jessica will presumably join Daredevil's anti-Fisk army assembled to combat Mayor Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his personal police force: the Anti Vigilante Task Force that has already taken out White Tiger (Kamar de Los Reyes) and is gunning for Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal).
"It's so great to be back, returning to Jessica after three seasons and The Defenders, and now joining the MCU," Ritter said during Marvel's portion of the Disney upfronts. "I'm so excited to bring back this iconic character, and without giving too much away, there is much more in store for Jessica Jones. This is going to be an incredible season."
Ritter played the alcoholic, super-powered private investigator across three seasons of the Netflix-aired Jessica Jones between 2015 and 2019, and reprised the role as part of The Defenders miniseries in 2017.
Season 2 of the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again marks Ritter's first time playing the character since Jessica's solo series -- which pit the traumatized P.I. against the mind-controlling Purple Man (David Tennant), her mother Alisa Jones (Janet McTeer), and her friend turned foe, Patricia "Trish" Walker, A.K.A. the vigilante Hellcat (Rachael Taylor) -- was cancelled in 2019.
Ritter joins a cast that includes Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Margarita Levieva as the anti-vigilante Dr. Heather Glenn, and Wilson Bethel as Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter, A.K.A. the assassin Bullseye. Ayelet Zurer plays Vanessa Fisk, with Zabryna Guevara, Michael Gandolfini, and Arty Froushan rounding out Mayor Fisk's inner circle. Daredevil's allies include Clark Johnson's Cherry, Genneya Walton's BB Urich, and Bernthal's Punisher. Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby-Doo) has been cast in an as-yet-undisclosed role, and Lili Taylor (The Conjuring, American Crime) has also joined the series as the Governor of New York.
Whether Colter and Jones return as Luke Cage and Iron Fist, respectively, remains to be seen.
"The funny thing is, I don't feel there's a huge dividing line between myself and the fans. I am a super fan," showrunner Dario Scardapane previously told TVLine when asked about a potential Defenders reunion in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. "I don't necessarily want everything that the fans want, so I can't give anything away. But the idea that New York is in a really tough place and that Hell's Kitchen and Daredevil's world includes other people, some of whom we have not seen yet... it makes a certain amount of sense that the world is going to expand a little bit."
"Now, a full-fledged Defenders reunion, I don't know about that," he added. "But the idea that there are people in our world that we haven't seen yet... I think that's half fun."