On January 10, 2024, Marvel Studios’ Echo will be released on Hulu and Disney+. The trailer for the new TV-MA-rated series released earlier today features some very graphic and dramatic action sequences with physical fights, weapons, explosions, blood, and car crashes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the TV-MA rating is the first for Marvel Studios, as well as the studio’s first series to debut on both Disney+ and Hulu concurrently.
The new series has ties to other Marvel series, such as Hawkeye and Daredevil. The first season of Echo will dive into the backstory of Maya Lopez, played by Alaqua Cox (Hawkeye), who trains to become Echo. Villian Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofiro (Men in Black), takes on the adoptive father role of Maya before she ever becomes Echo. He trains her in combat, with her natural skills becoming apparent, and eventually, she takes on different jobs for him. Echo was featured in Hawkeye, with that appearance being the superhero’s first on-screen emergence. In the final episode of Hawkeye, Kingpin avoids death by arrow, being hit by a car, and an explosion, but what was left unrevealed to fans was a gun to Kingpin’s head with Echo’s hand on the trigger. The show reveals the sound of a gunshot but no visual between Kingpin and Echo for viewers to see the result of the shot. Since the release of Hawkeye’s final episode, Kingpin has since made a return in the Echo trailer.
Creators on the show are ready to show fans a different side of Marvel. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, spoke about the rating of the show, saying, “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+.”
The official Echo trailer was posted to YouTube and in less than twelve hours collected 126,000 views. The same trailer was posted to Marvel Studios Instagram, collecting 8.2 million views and thousands of comments from fans who can’t wait for its release in two months.
The official trailer for Marvel’s Echo is posted below.