Jessica Jones’ Krysten Ritter to star in Orphan Black spinoff series

(Image credit: Netflix)

Jessica Jones and Breaking Bad star Krysten Ritter is both executive-producing and taking on the lead role in Orphan Black: Echoes, a spinoff of the Tatiana Maslany-led Candian sci-fi thriller series.

The flagship series stars Maslany as a British con artist who discovers that she's a clone and that she and her "sister" clones, who were created as part of an illegal human cloning experiment, are being hunted down. The offshoot series takes place in the not-so-distant future and ventures into the scientific manipulation of human existence. Ritter's Lucy will lead a group of women who become tangled in each other's lives and embark on a thrilling journey, one that unravels the mystery of their identity. There's no word yet if Ritter will follow in Maslany's footsteps and play several different versions of her character.

Anna Fishko (producer of Tyrant and Fear the Walking Dead) is the creator, head writer, showrunner, and executive producer of Orphan Black: Echoes, alongside Jon Fawcett, co-creator of Orphan Black, who will serve as director and executive producer.

Ritter played ex-superhero turned private investigator Jessica Jones for three seasons in a pre-Disney Plus world, though the show is finally available to stream on Disney Plus (and is an official part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Ritter also played The 'B' in Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, and rose to fame as Jane Margolis in Breaking Bad. She stars opposite Elizabeth Olsen in HBO's Love and Death and is currently writing a follow-up to her thriller novel Bonfire.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.