The Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken a significant turn with its latest series, Echo, which debuted to an impressive viewership on Disney+ and Hulu. The series could be key to the future of the Marvel Studios franchise and how more mature content can provide it with a new direction, and more success than it has seen in recent years.
Echo quickly soared to the top of the charts on both streaming platforms on its release, thanks in part to a change of tact in the way it was released. Breaking away from Marvel's traditional episodic release pattern, all five episodes of the series were made available at once, allowing fans to binge-watch a live-action MCU series for the first time. Although the strategy is new to Disney+ content, other platforms such as Netflix have continued to use this model for several of their biggest hits. Although it was unconventional for MCU standards, the release of all episodes of Echo paid off, as indicated by Deadline's report of the series clinching the number one spot on both Disney+ and Hulu. The exact viewership numbers remain undisclosed as always, but the show's immediate popularity is undeniable.
Echo stands out in the MCU for several reasons. Firstly, it is the inaugural series under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Spotlight" banner, which aims to tell more grounded, character-centric stories, diverging from the typical big-budget, PG-13 arena of MCU films. This shift towards more mature storytelling is evident in Echo, which received the first TV-MA rating of the franchise for its violence and more adult tone. This is thought to be the route that the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series will follow, especially following Charlie Cox’s appearance as the character in Echo.
Echo Is a Pivotal MCU Series
Echo is a spin-off from the 2021 MCU series Hawkeye, and follows the character of Maya Lopez, played by Alaqua Cox. The show takes a deep dive into Maya's complex past and her involvement with Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk’s criminal empire. This is something that could prove to be one of the most pivotal stories of the MCU’s last several years, potentially setting up a new grittier world of “street-level” vigilantes among the superhuman heroes of the franchise, which has been teased in the past by Kevin Feige.
Despite its success in viewership, Echo has not been quite as lauded in its reviews. The show started off with mixed reviews, and settled on a critics score of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. While there have been some complaints that the series was too slow and dull, this is exactly the reason others have praised the show, calling it a refreshing change from the usual CGI-driven Marvel fare. The series has mostly managed to do what it set out to achieve; prove that there is a large viewership for darker and more mature content within the MCU that has been severely lacking in the past.
