Marvel continues its “Project Reset” after the well-publicized and much-discussed Phase 4 and Phase 5 wobbles. Much of their upcoming content has been reworked or re-tooled. They also seem to have tacitly understood that Generation TikTok isn’t going to help them at the box office or with eyeballs on streaming. If the bulk of their core audience was 25 when Iron Man came out, then they will have probably already turned 40. Leaning into a more adult tone is expected. Deadpool 3 remains R-rated, and now Echo is their first TV-MA rated project.
Now Marvel Studios has released a new, 60-second trailer for Echo that shows more. The level of violence seems to place this much more in the tone of the Netflix shows like Daredevil and Punisher, rather than the strangely bloodless world of Falcon And The Winter Soldier or self-referential horrors like She-Hulk.
The show follows the introduction of the character in Hawkeye. Alaqua Cox’s character Maya Lopez is deaf, with the ability to imitate any opponent’s fighting style. She is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal empire. When the journey brings her to her hometown in Oklahoma, she must confront her own family and legacy.
Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene, Cody Lightning, Devery Jacobs, and Zahn McClarnon star. Alongside the welcome return of D’Onofrio as Fisk, we also know Charlie Cox will appear as Daredevil / Matt Murdock.
Echo was shot mid-2022 as eight episodes. Marvel’s efforts to retool and refocus a lot of content in the wake of their issues led to this being heavily re-shot and tightened to five episodes.
In a first for a Disney+ Marvel showed, all five episodes will drop at once on January 9th on both Disney+ and Hulu. It will be interesting to see what the binge-watch data tells Disney and Marvel. Will this lead to a change in strategy if successful?
