Not too long ago, Marvel Studios seemed indestructible. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has faced some significant setbacks over the last few years. As laid out in a Variety report this week, Marvel has been contending with a number of issues such as box office disappointments, while Jonathan Majors (who portrays the MCU's latest centerpiece villain) is awaiting trial for assault and harassment charges. Marvel also seemed to be stretching itself thin between its many movies and TV shows amid reports that visual effects staffers were overworked.
Perhaps with all of that in mind, Marvel is trying something a bit different with its next streaming series in a bid to get fans back on board. Echo will be the first Marvel show to arrive on Disney+ and Hulu simultaneously. On top of that, for the first time since its former Netflix shows, Marvel will return to TV-MA-rated fare and drop all five episodes of the series simultaneously on January 10. However, Echo will only be available on Hulu until April 9.
Echo will be the first superhero series to have both a deaf and a Native American character in the central role, as Variety notes. Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox) first appeared in Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021, though she's more of an anti-hero.
The show's first trailer shows Echo squaring off against a returning Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). Based on this evidence, the series looks to have a darker, more adult-oriented tone that's more aligned with the likes of Daredevil (that show's titular character appears briefly in this trailer) and Jessica Jones than Ms. Marvel or Loki.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/echo-will-be-the-first-marvel-show-to-hit-disney-and-hulu-simultaneously-172206411.html?src=rss