Jessica Jones joined its ex-Netflix Defenders cohorts on Disney+ back in March, but months on the streamer has made a peculiar tweak to the series… one that’s actually even more peculiar than people first thought.
Over the weekend, MCU Direct reported that Disney+ had changed the title of Jessica Jones on the platform to A.K.A. Jessica Jones—the original working title of the series when it was planned as an ABC show, and seemingly a nod to the show’s episode title conventions, all of which begin with “A.K.A.” What followed was fervent speculation from news sites that the name change is setting the groundwork for a revival and/or reboot of the character as part of Disney+’s offerings of MCU TV series, much in the vein of Jessica’s fellow Defender Daredevil, currently set to see a revival with the return of Charlie Cox as the titular hero on the streamer.
However, the change does not seem quite so significant as originally reported. Disney+ has indeed changed the title sequence of Jessica Jones to update a placard with this “new” name… but it’s only done so for the very first episode of season one, “A.K.A. Ladies Night.” io9 has confirmed that on both European and U.S. versions of the platform the other 38 episodes of Jessica Jones still retain their original title cards, and that there is indeed a change from the original Netflix release for the premiere episode.
Although Jessica Jones is no longer on Netflix, digital purchases of the first episode on platforms like YouTube confirm that the original episode when accessed elsewhere has not been updated to include the “A.K.A.” branding now present on the Disney+ release. Furthermore, the series’ preview card in the Marvel section of Disney+ still retains the original Jessica Jones branding. The series also only surfaces in search on Disney+ under “Jessica Jones,” with “A.K.A.” not returning the series in results until the hero’s name is added.
G/O Media may get a commission
UNDER $1
99¢ Prime Video Channels
Prime content
Add Showtime, Starz, Paramount+, Discovery, and more to your Prime Video account for less than $1 each for the first two months of your subscription.
This isn’t the first time Marvel material has gone under some strange post-release tweaks on Disney+. Recently a peculiar edit to violent scenes in an episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier lead to Disney claiming that the choice to modify scenes featuring blood splatter and impalement in the series were due to the accidental upload of an alternative cut of the episode. As for Jessica Jones, it’s hard to say why such a tiny change has been made—whether it was done intentionally ahead of, as some suspect, a potential revival of the character for the MCU, or another alleged error on Disney’s behalf.
io9 has reached out to Disney for comment on the title change, and will update this post if and when we hear back.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
