Marvel has placed itself in a unique and interesting position when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the one hand, the studio has earned the title of heavy weight champion at the box office, with movies like Captain America: Civil War. For eight years now, Marvel has been slowly taking over the cinematic world, dominating the competition and weaving an intricate web of stories that keep fans coming back for me. The good will it's earned from its cinematic success has led the studio to take some experimental chances in the world of television.

These experiments have evolved into another side of the MCU, one that’s every bit as rich and exciting as the world they crafted with their movies. The MCU's Netflix shows have added layers of texture to the universe established by the films, and have allowed audiences new insights into people that comprise the fantastic world of the MCU. Their first Netflix outing, Daredevil, earned praise from critics and fans, and solidified plans for what’s become known as The Defenders—an Avengers-like team up of smaller scale heroes following the momentum building releases of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones season 1 was one of Netflix's biggest success stories in 2015 too, earning praise for its handling of trauma survival and the handling of a character with a complex psychology. That series left fans chomping at the bit for even more if the titular heroine, and now we’ve got out first indication of when the follow up season may come to light.

In an interview with Digital Spy, Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter offered some new hints about when we can expect to see Jessica on the small screen, and also when Jessica Jones season 2 will likely arrive. According to Ritter, season 2 won’t film until sometime after The Defenders (which is set to begin production near the end of 2016):

“They’ll be back-to-back. I don’t know if they’ll overlap a little bit. It’s about to be a serious undertaking. I’m starting my physical training—lots of weight training and boxing.”

From the sound of things, it’s about to be a very busy time for Ritter, with The Defenders and Jessica Jones season two filming in such close proximity. Unfortunately, this means we probably won’t see the second season of her show until 2017 at the earliest, but Ritter, for her part, is excited about where the story might go.

“I’m excited to see what happens next for Jessica, and the end of season one left a lot of doors open and questions unanswered. Kilgrave was her reason for getting up every morning. Saving people gave her purpose. I wonder how emotionally taxed she’s going to be now. That opens a lot of doors as to who will come out and play. We all live in the same universe, so there are endless possibilities.”

While that settles questions of Jessica Jones and The Defenders, there remains the possibility that Ritter might appear on Netflix again when Luke Cage is released later this year. Luke, of course, was introduced on the first season of Jessica Jones, where the two characters forged a tumultuous relationship, and in the comics, Luke and Jessica are married and have a child together. Whether or not she’ll appear on his series is still unknown, though Ritter was suspiciously coy about the subject when asked.

“Marvel have this grand plan. Luke Cage will come out, then Iron Fist. In terms of scheduling I don’t know how it will all come out and I can’t even tell you if I’ve filmed Luke Cage. But I’m excited for Mike [Colter] to have his own show. I know the tone of that show is going to be very different.”

Marvel is, of course, notoriously secretive about their projects, as fans will remember regarding the previews for Civil War. Despite having announced the appearance of Spider-Man in the movie, the studio withheld images of the web-slinger for months until the release of the second trailer. With that in mind, it’s important to note that Ritter didn’t explicitly deny being involved with the production of Luke Cage, so the door remains open for now.

NEXT: The Defenders Gets Daredevil Season 2 Showrunners

Daredevil season 1 & 2 and Jessica Jones season 1 are now available on Netflix. Luke Cage season 1 will arrive on September 30th, 2016. Release dates for Jessica Jones season 2, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher spinoff on Netflix have not yet been announced.

Source: Digital Spy