Summary
Echomade her Disney+ debut in theHawkeyeminiseries with Alaqua Cox in the role. Now, she returns with her own series on Disney+ and Hulu. Unlike previous Marvel shows on Disney+,Echowill drop all at once, letting fans binge the series all at once. More importantly,Echois the first Marvel project on Disney+ to come with a TV-MA rating. Every other show on Disney+ falls within the range of TV-Y, TV-G, and TV-PG.
This rating is of significant importance toEcho, fans, Marvel, and Disney as a whole. There are a slew of implications that come with a TV-MA series on Disney+. This new series has a new tone that sets it apart from the other Marvel shows likeWandaVisionandThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier. For all intents and purposes,Echofeels like the spiritual successor toDaredevilorPunisher. That is untilDaredevil: Born Againhits the streaming platform.
Who is Echo
MCU fansmet the its iteration of Echo in theHawkeyeminiseries as an antagonist for the titular character. However, the comics pit Maya Lopez/Echo against Daredevil for much of her tenure. Kingpin took Maya in when she was just a child after her father, an enforcer for Kingpin, met his demise, which Wilson Fisk orchestrated. The crime lord eventually manipulated Maya into thinking Daredevil killed her father, prompting her to train in martial arts in preparation for returning the favor.
Maya is deaf and communicates in American Sign Language (ASL), but also knows how to read lips. She’s a talented character in many different aspects. Her abilities as a fighter are rather impressive as she’s capable of mimicking the moves of other fighters, thus the name “Echo.” While she hunts down Daredevil to exact her revenge, she begins a relationship with Matt Murdock, unbeknownst to her that he is the very person she wants to kill. During a final showdown with Daredevil, she learns who’s under the mask and refuses to kill him. Instead, she turns onKingpin and shoots him, leaving him for dead. This is similar to the final scene between the two inHawkeye.
Maya goes off and leaves New York City for some soul-searching. She takes on the Ronin mantle after meeting Wolverine and makes it her mission to exterminate The Hand. Maya might seem like a street-level hero, but her skills have earned her a spot on The Avengers team, whom she still joins on various missions.
Marvel’s Echo Rating
Marvel and Disney, by extension, decided to give the new miniseries a rating of TV-MA. With all of the blood and violence in the not even two-minute trailer, it’s apparent whyEchodeserves such a rating. This trailer drummed up a lot of excitement for fans to see Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin return with the same brutality and relentlessness he exhibited in Netflix’sDaredevilseries.Echolooks to exudethe same atmosphere as the Marvel projects that found a home on Netflix.
While a TV-MA rating opens up many possibilities for a TV series, Marvel’sEchoearned the rating for its graphic violence, something not seen in other MCU projects. Director Sydney Freeland discussed the tone of the series and how it’s different from previous Marvel shows made for Disney+:
People on our show — they bleed. They die. They get killed and there are real-world consequences.
Unlike the other Marvel shows,Echofollows a villain. Following the events ofHawkeye, the character might be leaning more toward the role of an anti-hero, but her moral compass very much points to the gray area between light and dark. From the looks of the trailer, it’s not Maya committing most of the violence, though she’s sure to dish out her fair share. Marvel is no stranger to action. It’s what compiles 90 percent of its movies. Marvel wouldn’t exist without fight scenes. It’s more than that.
Tonally, theEchoseries is reminiscent ofDaredevilandJessica Jones,where characters are left bleeding from every orifice in their head. The trailer goes as far as to display somebody shot in the head. That’s something fans expected from the Netflix shows made by Marvel TV, but not Marvel Studios. While the trailer didn’t show any blood shoot out the back of the victim’s skull, it might have been digitally removed. This rating changes so much for Marvel’s future and Disney’s.
What Echo’s Rating Means for Future Marvel Projects
Many people find themselves surprised by the rating, especially coming from a Disney property. Ever since Disney acquired the Marvel brand, fans expressed concern that filmmakers would dial down the violence with every property produced with a broader audience in mind, making them more kid-friendly. The Netflix shows were a nice reprieve until Disney canceled them one by one. Then, when the House of Mouse purchased FOX Studios and its entire film library, acquiring the rights toMarvel’sX-Mencharacters, there was concern thatDeadpoolwould lose its R-rating, which many fans believe it needs to be faithful to the source material.
Questions ofDaredevilandPunisherreturning to TV on Disney+ and how they could be as successful as their Netflix versions followed, as fans were fond of their more mature content. Disney is notoriously known for its kid-friendly filmography that fills Disney+, but it appears the monstrous corporation is willing to add some mature material to its streaming service.Echolooks to be a kind of testing ground for TV-MA content on Disney’s signature streaming platform. Brad Winderbaum, head of Disney’s streaming, television, and animation, toldThe Hollywood Reporter:
It’s a little on the grittier side for Marvel, and shows the breadth of what Marvel is capable of. It is sort of a new direction for the brand, especially for Disney+.
This points to a bright future for all fans of Marvel.Echofinding its home on Disney+opens up the possibility forDaredevil: Born Again, which is already undergoing drastic changes, to retain the same tone as its Netflix counterpart.
Echo
Alaqua Cox returns as Maya Lopez in Echo, a first-of-its-kind Marvel Spotlight series. The show explores Maya’s past as she deals with the fallout of her confrontation with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) in Hawkeye. Unlike previous Marvel projects, Echo is rated TV-MA and explores a grittier, more violent side of the MCU.
