I did hear that originally Phoenix Wright was not going to be involved at all starting with Apollo Justice. But pressure from Capcom forced them to include Phoenix Wright in some fashion anyway. So there is a general feeling that at one point the series was thinking it was done with Phoenix’s story. Now I suppose Phoenix is there for the franchise name recognition and for the older fans that might be a little stubborn about the newer protagonists still have something to look forward to.

There’s there’s still a little more about Apollo’s story that needs to be get done. There is something from Apollo Justice (the game) that still needs a conclusion (Won’t say what it is because again, spoilers)

But yeah, I wonder what else Athena will offer in the future. She kinda gets the short end of the stick in Spirit of Justice with that filler-esque (But pretty funny) Case 4.