Echo, the upcoming Marvel Studios’ net collection, will kickstart a brand new label within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Dubbed ‘Marvel Highlight,’ the brand new banner will permit audiences to leap right into a superhero’s arc with out worrying about continuity or having to make amends for different initiatives within the franchise. It’s named after the anthology comedian e book collection — originated in 1979 — serving as standalone origins tales for Spider-Lady and Ghost Rider as a gateway for brand spanking new audiences. Whereas the character of Echo, performed by Alaqua Cox, was featured within the Jeremy Renner-led Hawkeye collection, there’s completely no motive for newbies to pay attention to its occasions.
“Marvel Highlight provides us a platform to carry extra grounded, character-driven tales to the display, and within the case of Echo, specializing in street-level stakes over bigger MCU continuity,” Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s Head of Streaming mentioned in a ready assertion. “Similar to comics followers did not have to learn Avengers or Unbelievable 4 to take pleasure in a Ghost Rider Highlight comedian, our viewers does not have to have seen different Marvel collection to grasp what’s taking place in Maya’s story.” Whereas the idea of standalone exhibits below a brand new banner is sensible, particularly contemplating the large catalogue of MCU movies and exhibits, I am a little bit sceptical given how closely the MCU is used to incorporating callbacks and easter eggs to different movies. I would not be shocked if the collection finale ended with a post-credits scene that tied it into Hawkeye or some bigger occasion within the franchise.
An entire detachment from different initiatives is just about unimaginable since Echo is poised to have run-ins with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and her adoptive father Kingpin, performed by Vincent D’Onofrio. The brand new Disney+ Daredevil arc can also be present process a whole reboot, so who is aware of the place that story is headed. Regardless, Marvel Studios has now not directly admitted that there is means an excessive amount of content material to comb by means of and that it is principally crumbling below its personal weight because the epic saga started with 2008’s Iron Man. Youngsters who grew up with these motion pictures are adults now, and it is type of foolish to count on a brand new era of viewers to maintain up with 15 years’ value of lore — particularly when the superhero film fatigue is at an all-time excessive. With new initiatives piling on, it is higher to make a distinction between bigger MCU tales and the tales which are disconnected from it — whereas nonetheless retaining the identical actors.
Strive to not confuse this with DC Studios’ Elseworlds technique, which is about to introduce two Batmen — Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Half II and Andy Muschietti’s The Courageous and the Daring — whose distinctive arcs run parallel to one another. The tales informed in Marvel Highlight do finally tie into the bigger MCU mythos, however you need not do any homework to get into them. Final week, the studio dropped the primary trailer for Echo, which confirmed Wilson Fisk defending and elevating a deaf Native American Maya Lopez into an adept murderer. Canonically, set after the occasions of Hawkeye, the five-episode collection will see her attempt to reconnect together with her Native roots whereas resolving some deep vendetta together with her adoptive father.
All 5 episodes of Echo drop January 10 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.