Interference leaves latest MCU release mere ‘echo’ of what could have been

In what fatigued Marvel fans hope will prove a return to what they consider the “glory days” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Echo is the newest title birthed from the clockwork, movie-making machine Disney procured a decade and a half ago. Echo follows the character of Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox, Hawkeye) after the events of sister series Hawkeye, as she struggles to break away from her past under New York’s kingpin of crime Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio, Jurassic World) and reconnect with her Native American roots in her hometown. 

Also launching with the five episode miniseries is the branding of “Marvel Spotlight.”  Previously, Marvel had introduced the “Special Presentation” subtitle with projects such as Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, giving shorter form content to characters or plots that might not fill up the expected hour and a half to two hour runtime that a complete film would. However, with “Marvel Spotlight,” the goal seems to be similar, but in a format where characters can be introduced into the MCU with fewer ties to the overall picture. In a move which went from innovating to the norm over the past two decades, Marvel continues to experiment and reevaluate in order to revitalize what has slowly drained the bank account of superhero media. 

In the comics, the “Marvel Spotlight” branding has been used to introduce many different characters, such as Ghost Rider and Spider-Woman, leaving many options on the table for what the MCU might do with future projects. Installments such as the rumored Wonder Man miniseries starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) or the long-awaited R-rated Blade movie with Mahershala Ali (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) could be perfect fits in this labeling, bringing back what was special about early projects, through their somewhat disconnected but still MCU-feel storytelling and characters. 

To aid in the filming of the series and maintaining accuracy to the Choctaw Nation, the writers of Echo brought on experts in the history, culture, and language of the Choctaw people. From indigenous folktales passed down from generation to generation about the origins of their people, to the games played that were used to settle disputes and avoid war, this type of representation with those who have first-hand experience is a step in the right direction to having historically accurate representation and not just jammed in there without any regard to what is correct. As the actress of Echo herself, Alaqua Cox, grew up on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin, and is both deaf and a partial amputee, the representation in the series speaks volumes for how easily good depictions of other cultures can be executed. Despite the fact that filmmakers and showrunners have striven for better representation in Hollywood, especially in recent years, the stereotypes set long ago still run rampant, and Echo provides a pathway and model for media portrayals.

Surprisingly, Echo is the first new show on the streaming platform under the Marvel brand to have been given a TV-MA rating since the previously non-canon “Defenders Saga,” but it falls short of what many fans were expecting. In fact, other Marvel projects have surpassed the gore shown in the series with a lower age rating, such as Werewolf by Night and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In Echo, there are a total of about four actual showcases of gore. Although not every series has to be (nor should be) an absolute bloodbath, the show should at least try to match the age rating in other regards, which sets a standard for the target audience of the series. However, nothing in the series explicitly screams mature audiences only. 

Although the TV-MA rating was highly underutilized as compared to what the Netflix MCU shows have brought to the table, it is mostly due to - as always - studio intervention. Throughout the tumultuous filming of the series, a multitude of scenes and even entire episodes were cut for what Marvel thought would be a more coherent story; however, although this may be the case in certain scenes, it leaves the viewer feeling confused and left without  knowing what could have been. This problem has been the case in numerous Marvel films as of late, most notably with the numerous rewrites with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, leaving a lot of Marvel fans upset at director Sam Raimi and screenwriter Michael Waldren, when it was the studio’s fault that most of the reshoots and rewrites occurred. As for Echo, a sixth episode was originally planned for the series, but was eventually cut entirely. Although it may not seem like it would have been that big of a deal, it leaves the finale, what the entire series was building up to, feeling rushed and a little convoluted. 

Heads Up, Spoilers Ahead!

From what seemed to be his demise during the finale of Hawkeye, somehow Wilson Fisk returned from getting shot in the eye with nothing but just a bandage. As for what the post credit scene means for the greater MCU as a whole, Fisk preparing for a mayoral campaign in “The City That Never Sleeps” is nothing new for long-time followers of the comics, with Kingpin already holding the position of mayor before. Under the supervision of Fisk, he outlaws all vigilantes, more or less legalizing the usage of supervillains to hunt them down. With a Peter Parker (Tom Holland, Uncharted) now on his own, a really good lawyer who uses his super senses to beat down thugs, and numerous other heroes, refocusing back on the street-level side of the cinematic universe could be the remedy to the slump plaguing the once great powerhouse. 

This seems especially true now after the results of the trial of Kang the Conqueror actor, Jonathan Majors. Just as storytelling has gone all-in focusing on multiversal and larger-than-life threats, Majors was previously slated to be the big bad spanning multiple projects of the MCU’s “Multiverse Saga.” However, he was found guilty of sexual harassment and third degree reckless assault. His sentencing is set to be on February 6, but as of yet, the character he portrays’s future is still up in the air. Majors was already fired by Disney, which indicates that Marvel Studios could take one of two routes. Either recast the actor, or scrap the original storyline intended with the character and start from scratch with a new villain.

An even greater surprise as a result of the returning appearances of both Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil is the fact that only now does the Netflix shows get brought into the greater universe as a whole and not on the outskirts as just a saga living in limbo between both being canon and not. This opens the door for what many fans have been asking for, for years, and allows for the studio to cash in on continuations of the storylines that were left untold for years. Already Daredevil: Born Again’s production has been affected by this change, as multiple reshoots have started to tell a story that the fans want and would enjoy.

Although Echo provides good representation for both those with disabilities and for the Choctaw people, as well as a reunion with familiar faces from Netflix Marvel series, the numerous scenes cut from the final product is its own detriment. Where the series falls flat, as is the case with most of the other Marvel series, is the finale feeling rushed and confusing. In the end, yet again studio intervention held it back from being what it deserved, leaving a faint echo of what could have been.

B+

Echoing what made many of its Netflix predecessors successful, Marvel Studio’s Echo suffers from the House of Mouse’s meddling leaving a shell of potential.

by Evan Parfitt

Published January 29 2024

Oshkosh West Index volume 120 issue IV