Why Bringing Jessica Jones into the MCU Would Be A Mistake

Marvel’s Krysten Ritter-led Jessica Jones had three well-received seasons on Netflix, but moving the character to the larger MCU would be a terrible decision. Jessica Jones completed its third season in 2019 following Jessica’s appearance in The Defenders miniseries. Shortly before the premiere of Jessica Jones season 3, Netflix canceled the series along with all the other Marvel shows on its slate. Contractually, Marvel was forced to wait two years after these cancellations before using any of the Defenders again. Now that time is up, the launch of Disney+ would provide a platform for all of the former Netflix characters. However, while there is no legal obstacle to Jessica Jones' reintroduction, the move still doesn't make sense for the MCU as it exists today.

Charlie Cox, the star of Netflix’s Daredevil, has been confirmed as the MCU’s official Daredevil. Although it is not yet known what projects he might appear in, Kevin Feige has explicitly stated that if the character were to be used, the actor playing him would be Charlie Cox. Daredevil is perhaps the most beloved character from the best-known Netflix show, but Jessica’s popularity is not far behind. Besides Daredevil, Jessica Jones is the only other Netflix series to get three seasons. Given that Krysten Ritter's performance was lauded as much as Cox's, and the two actors appeared together as these characters, recasting Jessica and the other Defenders while retaining Cox's Daredevil could be jarring to loyal Marvel viewers.

However, while she remains a popular Marvel figure, Jessica Jones as a character is not like Daredevil; or any of the other Defenders. The Netflix series’ all took place in a darker, grittier world, and these characters must face traumatic pasts on their way to becoming heroes. However, unlike Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, Jessica Jones centers the entire story around her trauma. Her first season was less a superhero show than an exploration of victimhood and the after-effects of rape and long-term abuse. Daredevil overcoming the obstacle of his blindness to become a successful crime fighter happens in the pilot. Jessica remains haunted by her trauma even in the last moments of her show's finale. Given the comparatively light tone of the rest of the MCU, Jessica Jones' return would feel out of place.

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The villain of Jessica Jones’s first season, Kilgrave, is a textbook abuser much less concerned with world domination than with controlling Jessica. Season 2 does not require Kilgrave’s magnetic presence to be successful and Jessica’s journey towards freeing herself from him goes beyond his death. However, he is perhaps the most terrifying villain the MCU has ever put on screen, not because of his mind-control powers, but because he exemplifies such familiar power dynamics between men and women. No one has ever met a giant purple alien warlord, but many women have been told to “smile” the way that Kilgrave tells Jessica.

The MCU as a whole is kid-friendly. When darkness comes, it is always a magical threat. Toning down the adult nature of Daredevil could be achieved simply by shooting his action sequences differently. Jessica is not defined by her darkness, but her show’s commitment to visceral reality is what made the character so important to many women. Sticking her in the much more candy-coated Avengers world would drain Jessica of everything that makes her compelling. The character, and the Jessica Jones show as a whole, deserve better.

Next: How All Of Netflix's Marvel Shows Ended (& What Would Have Happened Next)