The Big Picture

Echo has a rocky start, but improves with each episode, showcasing bold and bloody elements. The series is best when it focuses more on Maya’s connections and community, rather than the overarching superhero narrative. Echo represents a potential new direction for Marvel in what one can only hope is a breaking away from the burden of its massive universe.

When we look back at Echo, the new MCU series whose five episodes are now streaming early on Disney+ and Hulu, it is not going to be the point that marks the salvation for the seemingly declining superhero behemoth that is Marvel. Despite the promise that this is a “Spotlight” series, meaning supposedly casual viewers can go in without needing to remember everything else happening in this vast universe of movies and television, the first episode of the five-episode season plays like it is gunning for the record of the longest “previously on” segment you’ve ever seen. Heavily reliant on filling in the gaps of everything you actually apparently do need to know, with some repurposed footage that then gives way to new sequences, it feels more like cramming in homework right before a test starts and represents a mighty rocky start for a series that starts to hit its stride the longer it goes on. One almost wishes it had nothing to do with the baggage of this massive universe. Alas, it very much does. It is one of the franchise’s best, with more bold and bloody elements than much of its past entries, but that still isn’t saying as much as one would hope.

Echo Maya Lopez must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward. Release Date January 9, 2024 Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Studio Marvel Studios Franchise Marvel Cinematic Universe Main Characters Maya Lopez Producer Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre, Jason Gavin, Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King and Jennifer Booth Streaming Service(s) Disney+ Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe

Much has been made of the supposed death of Marvel and its stranglehold over popular culture. In the shadow of declining box office results, what has become known as “superhero fatigue,” and an increase in their television presence that has been defined by more misses than hits, it is easy to see why even the most diehard of fans have been less won over by the recent glut of output. This push for more and more “content,” even if it comes at the expense of quality, has been most seen in the rush to carve out a presence on the small screen. For every more genuinely wonderful series there is like Ms. Marvel, there is a hugely disappointing and genuinely ugly affair like Secret Invasion.

What’s fascinating is that Echo, while slow to start, is one of the more intriguing entries in the MCU in quite some time and could represent a potential new direction for Marvel. Of the three episodes shared with critics, everything past the introduction of the first one only gets better as we start to see this world and characters develop. When built around the more natural little details that remain free from the trappings of the shambling MCU, Echo leaps into action. Given that the rest of the franchise feels like dead weight, what this series achieves is made that much more promising.

What Is ‘Echo’ About?

The series first picks up in earnest with an extended flashback where we get to see how Maya “Echo” Lopez, the deaf Indigenous protagonist perfectly brought to life by Alaqua Cox, became intertwined with Wilson Fisk AKA Kingpin, embodied by the always great Vincent D’Onofrio once again. Maya’s is a crammed origin story of sorts, the recap of which is clunky, even as there is a solid action sequence thrown into the mix with a familiar masked face. It is given gravitas by great actors like Zahn McClarnon, for the little we get to see him which is again where some of the repurposed footage comes in, but some other forced cameos are more perplexing as to why this was supposedly meant to be the start of the audience not needing to know anything about this vast world. Echo’s first episode is clearly trying to bring general viewers up to speed, but it doesn’t do so cleanly. The more intriguing elements, where it seems that Maya can see through time and space, balance this out. On a greater level, the series actually gets underway properly when its lead leaves the big city to head home to Tamaha, Oklahoma, where she starts to reconnect with her community of the Choctaw Nation and plan how she wants to take down Fisk’s empire, even if it comes at great personal cost.

This is the overarching narrative that Echo mostly hangs itself on. However, in many regards, it is also the least interesting part of the series. Instead, the moments where we see Maya begin to connect with the people she left behind are where the show comes alive. Chaske Spencer of The English plays Maya’s uncle Henry, while Devery Jacobs of Reservation Dogs takes on the role of her cousin Bonnie, both of whom are great in their small moments despite being occasionally sidelined. Veteran actors Tantoo Cardinal as Chula and Graham Greene as Skully are each fantastic in their small yet integral parts. Much has been said about Echo’s more visceral fight scenes where bones break and people die, with one scene where a character meets their end upside down while blood drips over their lifeless face leaving a particular impression. The show’s beating heart, however, is the Indigenous community that Maya returns to, making for a rich and textured world we get to inhabit.

Echo is still not as fully realized as the aforementioned Reservation Dogs or the gone-too-soon Rutherford Falls, which almost gets a small reunion here, but still offers something more. There’s a refreshing sense of patience to the series’ later episodes when it just lets us sit with grounded characters, including a silly one who gets a great gag driving along the road with a beaten-up truck, rather than throwing in superhero references galore as the first episode did. Yet there is still that sense of tension as Echo tries to reach for something new for its future while untangling itself from all that’s come before.

‘Echo’ Dances Between the Old Marvel and a Potential New One

While it is somewhat unfair to burden a supposedly self-contained series with what it means for a larger franchise, such is always the case with Marvel. In this series, you can see that director Sydney Freeland is trying to smuggle some more ideas into the confines of this superhero world, and this often works rather well when you forget that it has anything to do with the MCU. A perhaps understandable though still reductive comparison floating around Echo has been to the spectacular series Andor. Not only did that set a new standard for Star Wars that nothing else has been able to live up to, but it felt like something wholly new for a franchise that was desperately running on fumes. Echo is not quite that, both because it has its own interests and is often still far too tied to the elements of the old MCU, though that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t have plenty of distinct strengths of its own, especially in its lead.

Though Echo’s supporting cast members are all great, with Spencer bringing just the right level of snark when the series needs it like in one conversation where he goes to visit Maya after she sabotages one of Fisk’s operations, it is Alaqua Cox who emerges as a star. She has the charisma to give all the solid if somewhat slight fight sequences a greater punch with a quick grin or taunt. She remains entertaining to watch, and, the more room that she is given to work, like in an inventive roller rink brawl, the better the show is. When Echo’s inevitable confrontation comes with the return of a major nemesis, as shown via Episode 3’s predictable cliffhanger, you’re on board because of her performance and the way the buildup to it plays out. Just seeing Maya ride her bike through town in one of the later scenes brings a surprising amount of emotion, as we bear witness to the little details of where she grew up that may soon be under threat.

Like the best superhero stories, Echo is about finding the people that make it all worth fighting for. Even though the pieces don’t always come together perfectly, this is one of the few MCU shows that remembers this important facet. Echo won’t save Marvel from itself, but that’s not its job. The old franchise had a good run and maybe, just maybe, there can be new life once it finally fades away. As Echo proves, it would be better to see more shows like this — ones that don’t need to drag around the same superhero baggage when it would be better just to cut it loose.

Echo REVIEW ProsAlaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Devery Jacos, Tantoo Cardinal, and Graham Greene are all great performers to build a show around The series feels like it is exploring a story that is more free from some of the past Marvel baggage that other shows have gotten caught up in Cox is a charismatic lead that gives the solid fight sequences, like one in a roller rink, that much more of a punch ConsThe first episode gets a little bogged down in recapping the existing Marvel story rather than fully launching into this new one Despite being advertised as a “Spotlight” series that stands apart from the rest of Marvel, there is still much that feels like it is tying it down

Echo is now available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu in the U.S.

WATCH ON DISNEY+