When it comes to fan theories, there is one series that seems to be cited as the origin of many other unrelated movies and TV shows:Breaking Bad. Having already been thought to be the origin on the virus that startedThe Walking Deadby many fans,Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman has now found himself at the center of a theory claiming he was responsible for the creation of Marvel character Jessica Jones, which all stems from the casting of Krysten Ritter in both series. Well, color us intrigued.
On the surface, there are very few similarities between AMC’s drug based drama and the fantastical Marvel series that resided as part of Netflix’s Marvel Universe until recently, but the one thing it has in common is actress Krysten Ritter, who played the girlfriend of Jesse Pinkman inBreaking Badand the title character inJessica Jonessix years apart. While there have been many more unlikely crossovers in recent multiverse and expanding timeline scenarios, does the theory that Ritter’s character is in a roundabout way featured in both shows hold any water?
Well, if this particular theory, which is one of many found onRanker.com’s long standing list ofJessica Jonesfan theories, turned out to be true, it would cause a lot of disappointment as it pretty much lends itself to the “it was all a dream” cop-out that has been loathed and ridiculed in the industry since Bobby Ewing stepped out of the shower inDallas. The basic theory goes like this: Jessica Jones is nothing but a figment of Jesse Pinkman’s imagination, created by theBreaking Badcharacter to remember his deceased girlfriend after he escapes the meth business.
While on the surface it is easy to dismiss this strange fantasy scenario, but a compelling argument is made when consideringKrysten Ritterplays both characters with a very similar attitude and persona, both characters have a history with drug abuse, and, as the theory goes on to suggest, the name of Jessica Jones itself could have been a derived version of Jesse’s own name. Of course there is one big stumbling block to this theory, in that Jones was created back in 2001, predatingBreaking Badby some way, but as with most theories, there is a footnote for that, which points out that the TV iteration of Jones and her comic book counterpart are two completely separate entities. Remember, multiverse stuff and all that.
Like with any fan theory, this one holds merit if you want to believe it, even adding in small details like the fact that Ritter’s character inBreaking Badwas a talented artist who created herself a whole superhero persona of “Apology Girl” in the series, which could have subsequently inspiredJesse Pinkmanto come up with another superhero persona for her after she was gone. In a world where Marvel characters are all connected in some way, fans creating theories outside the boundaries of Marvel’s own worlds is something that can be fun to peruse from time to time, and who knows, we could at some point in time find that every universe is connected in some way, even if it is only by the thinnest of connections.
