News Orphan Black spin-off starring Krysten Ritter

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Krysten Ritter is set to star and executive produce Orphan Black: Echoes, set to come out next year. We don't know much else except that Ritter will star as "Lucy, a woman with an unimaginable origin story who is trying to find her place in the world." Anna Fishko will serve as the creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer, while John Fawcett, who co-created the original series, is on board as executive producer and director. The first season will be ten episodes.

Sign me up! I love Ritter and I love Orphan Black. I can't wait to watch it!

 

[Christopher]

So Tatiana Maslany joins the MCU and Krysten Ritter joins Orphan Black. It's symmetry!

 

[crookeddy]

Confirming once and for all that Disney is not bringing the Netflix universe back.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

This confirms no such thing.

This doesn't even preclude appearances by Ritter as Jessica Jones in a guest role.

 

[tomalak301]

When they first announced this, I wasn't sure if I was interested or not. Naming Ritter as the lead makes me very interested. She was great in Jessica Jones of course, but having just watched Breaking Bad last year, she was awesome if that as well. She's a great successor to Maslany and I hope she does a great job.

 

[tomalak301]

Confirming once and for all that Disney is not bringing the Netflix universe back.

Didn't they just announce Daredevil: Reborn with Charlie Cox and Denorfio reprising their respective roles?

 

[crookeddy]

Didn't they just announce Daredevil: Reborn with Charlie Cox and Denorfio reprising their respective roles?

They will play characters of the same name, but that's about all that's known so far.

 

[Christopher]

This confirms no such thing.

This doesn't even preclude appearances by Ritter as Jessica Jones in a guest role.

Quite right. TV seasons these days are short enough that it's easy for an actor to appear in two or more different shows in the same year. For instance, Rya Kihlstedt appeared in recurring roles in both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Superman and Lois this past season.

Didn't they just announce Daredevil: Reborn with Charlie Cox and Denorfio reprising their respective roles?

It's called Daredevil: Born Again, after the 1986 Frank Miller story arc in the comics. Although the Netflix series already used that story arc as the loose basis for its third season, so this might be another case where the MCU just uses a familiar title for a new story.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

They will play characters of the same name, but that's about all that's known so far.

Read that sentence again.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

OB was one of the best TV series' in the last few decades and maybe a top 10 all time for me, so I'll definitely give this a shot.

 

[valkyrie013]

Doesn't stop Krysten from cameo or guest staring in the D+ stuff, she may have already filmed some scenes for She Hulk or other stuff. Plus Daredevil is 2024, plenty of time.

 

[John Clark]

Well, I was interested before, but Ritter as lead?

Yes please

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

So, a parallel line of closes to the Leda girls, or a new/more recent batch?

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

I'm guessing a newer group of clones because of what the Deadline news release mentions:

Orphan Black: Echoes takes place in the near future and explores the scientific manipulation of human existence. It follows a group of women — one of them played by Ritter — as they weave their way into each other’s lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unravelling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal.​

 

[Christopher]

I'm guessing a newer group of clones because of what the Deadline news release mentions:

Orphan Black: Echoes takes place in the near future and explores the scientific manipulation of human existence. It follows a group of women — one of them played by Ritter — as they weave their way into each other’s lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unravelling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal.​

It says only one character is played by Ritter, though. Also, the initial report says she has "an unimaginable origin story," which suggests it isn't something we've seen before. So maybe it's not about clones at all this time, but about some other kind of "scientific manipulation of human existence," like genetic engineering or transhumanism. These creators are good enough that I doubt they'd settle for just repeating the same formula.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

That's a fair point. That said, cloning was the core essence of Orphan Black. How does this show connect with that if there isn't some kind of clone? A different kind of genetic manipulation, I suppose, but again I wonder about the connections to the original show. Why not just create a whole new show?

I'm not saying you're wrong, just openly pondering the situation based on very little.

 

[Christopher]

That's a fair point. That said, cloning was the core essence of Orphan Black. How does this show connect with that if there isn't some kind of clone?

Orphan Black was never exclusively about clones. It used the clones as a vehicle to explore larger questions of bioengineering, transhumanism, medical ethics, and so forth. Here's an article on the subject: https://slate.com/technology/2017/08/orphan-black-was-never-about-cloning.html

A different kind of genetic manipulation, I suppose, but again I wonder about the connections to the original show. Why not just create a whole new show?

Why not put Deep Space Nine in a different universe from Star Trek, or Hawkeye in a different universe from WandaVision? There's no reason why every series in the same universe has to have the same format or topic.

Transhumanism, genetic engineering, and their associated ethical questions are big, complicated subjects. And OB established a rich mythology with Dyad, Neolution, P.T. Westmorland, and all of that. There's plenty of room to flesh out its concepts in new directions without merely repeating what's already been done.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

AMC's Twitter account has released 10 photos from the show. Most of the photos are of Krysten Ritter and Keeley Hawes (who I didn't know was going to be in this show!), but also a few shots of other members of the cast.

Plus: A preview of the end titles (all three seconds of it).

 

[tomalak301]

AMC's Twitter account has released 10 photos from the show. Most of the photos are of Krysten Ritter and Keeley Hawes (who I didn't know was going to be in this show!), but also a few shots of other members of the cast.

Plus: A preview of the end titles (all three seconds of it).

they looked great. I’m actually getting excited for the show but have they announced a premiere date? Also is this streaming only?

this week also saw the 10th anniversary of the premiere of Orphan Black. Can’t believe it’s been 10 years and I’m starting to look at that era (Fringe and Orphan Black) with the same fondness of the 90s to mid 2000s. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

No premiere date yet. Hell, before yesterday, I didn't know Keeley Hawes was going to be in the show, so we haven't had the way of much announced info (that I've seen).