Marvel Studios latest streaming series, Echo, was the subject of worrisome rumors both during and after its production. Rumors ranged from the show being cancelled to being totally reshot and just about anything youight imagine I’m between. Ultimately, it was cut down to five episodes and became the first MCU series to have all its episodes released all at once. Combined with the fact that advanced reviews for the series were embargoed until the same time the series released on Disney Plus and Hulu, all these factors had fans concerned that Echo was going to be a major critical disappointment. At this time, that hardly seems to be the case; in fact, the series has played relatively well with critics.
As reviews continue to roll in on Rotten Tomatoes, Echo is piling up for positive reactions than not, sitting at 71% positive.
Many critics are lauding the show’s use of its TV-MA rating and comparing it favorably to the streaming series created by Marvel TV for Netflix and in the mid-to-late 2010s. On that note, Echo’s 71% sits higher than both seasons of The Punisher (Seasons 1 and 2 ended up at 68% and 62%, respectively) and both seasons of the critically panned Iron Fist which was regarded as Netflix’s worst effort (Seasons 1 and 2 ended up at 20% and 55%, respectively).
Critics are also praising star Alaqua Cox‘s performance as Maya Lopez and the supporting cast of Devery Jacobs, Chaske Spencer and Tantoo Cardinal leading the way. The ability to tell a personal story set in a corner of the MCU far away from the main events of the Multiverse Saga also allowed viewers the opportunity to not have to have much in the way of prior knowledge (indeed EVERYTHING needed to understand the series was shown in the series). With Marvel Studios creating a new production banner–Marvel Spotlight–for Echo, it seems more of these smaller scale stories are on the way.
While promoting Echo, Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television and Animation Marvel Studios stirred up quite a bit of buzz when he shared his thoughts on if the events from the various Netflix Dedenders-verse series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher) took place onthe MCU’s Sacred Timeline.
“So, I can say that up until this point, we’ve been a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline and what’s not,” said Winderbaum. “That was born, frankly, out of a period at the studio where we were like ‘we have to stick the landing with Avengers.’ It was another part of the company developing the Netflix stuff; we were aware of what they were doing, they were aware of what we were doing, but it was a lot.. it was a lot to balance anyway,” he explained. “But now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.” And it was that last bit that left enough wiggle room available to keep the debate alive of whether or not those series, which were not produced by Marvel Studios should be considered as Sacred Timeline canon. Now it seems like the debate is settled.
Accompanying the release of Echo, the studio’s first Marvel Spotlight production and its first TV-MA offering, the studio made massive changes to the Timeline Order subsection of the Marvel Studios channel on Disney Plus. Though it’s not yet updated in all regions, the studio has retroactively placed all 161 episodes of the Netflix series in the Infinity Saga.
Daredevil and Jessica Jones are now located between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Luke Cage, Iron Fist and TheDefenders are now placed between Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War. And, finally, The Punisher is shown to be set after Spider-Man: Homecoming and before Doctor Strange.
The changes have wreaked some havoc on the streaming service and it seems quite a few bugs are still being worked out.
Lucasfilm has been working to find a way to get Star Wars back into theaters; now they’ve revealed that their next film will feature two of the studio’s most popular characters. Via an official release on their website, it’s been revealed that the next Star Wars film will be directed by Jon Favreau and titled The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Through 3 seasons of the streaming series The Mandalorian, Favreau has proven that Star Wars is still a top-tier property with plenty of gas left in the tank. Now, he’s taking Din Djarin and his foundling, Grogu, to the big screen. “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” said Favreau. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.” The project is set to begin production in 2024 which should see it ready for theaters by the May 22, 2026 release date already set aside by Disney for a Star Wars film.
For some time, rumors have swirled that Lucasfilm was considering presenting the next chapter of The Mandalorian in a film and now it looks as though that is the case. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said, “Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen.”
Though it was a fun, fast-paced adventure, The Marvels will ultimately be remembered as Marvel Studios biggest bust to date. Finishing its domestic run with roughly $205M, the film is by far the lowest grossing MCU project to date and continued a worrisome trend of landing neither with critics nor audiences. That said, there’s always the possibility that–like some of Disney’s other less-than-successful films of late–it finds an audience at home. And now that it’s out of theater, it’s been revealed when The Marvels will hit digital platforms and be available for purchase at retailers.
USA Today broke the news that The Marvels will be available for purchase on digital platforms such as Vudu, Amazon Prime and more on January 16th.
Miss #TheMarvels in theaters? The latest Marvel superhero adventure hits digital platforms Jan. 16, 4K and Blu-ray Feb. 13. Check out an exclusive deleted scene with Brie Larson, Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris. pic.twitter.com/X1SEN4CLfV
Blu-ray and 4K UHD copies will hit shelves on February 13th, just about 3 months after the film began it’s theatrical run. That’s a pretty standard timeline for Marvel’s films though some have landed on either side of that window.
Like many other recent MCU projects, TheMarvels reportedly underwent a serious facelift in post-production and that may have led to the film’s choppy feel. Additionally, the ongoing strikes in Hollywood cut out a significant portion of the publicity tour that typically accompanies Marvel’s projects.
No project generated more buzz during SDCC ’22 than Daredevil: Born Again. Originally intended to stream on Disney Plus in Spring 2024, production on the series got underway in early 2023 but was paused in June amid the WGA strike. Marvel Studios used that break to evaluate what they had filmed for the series so far and decided the series needed a creative restructuring. By October 2023, Dario Scardapane (The Punisher) had been brought in as showrunner and the directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight, Loki Season 2) were handed the reigns and tasked both with salvaging what they could from the work that had been done and plotting a new course for the project. As 2024 gets underway, it looks as though production on the project is set to resume soon and fans are starting to become more curious about just what the new direction of the series will be.
Daredevil: Born Again will see Daredevil stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio back in action as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, respectively. D’Onofrio also has a major role in Marvel Studios’ next streaming project, Echo. During an interview with Collider about his role in that series, D’Onofrio provided a very promising update about the new direction Daredevil: Born Again is headed under the direction of Scardapane, Benson and Moorhead.
“We’re having a really good time right now. We’re getting back up. We’re gonna start soon, hopefully sooner than later, and Charlie and I feel like the right vibe is there,” D’Onofrio told Collider. With so much negativity surrounding the MCU right now, fans are hopeful that the time taken to restructure Daredevil: Born Again pays off. After all, Daredevil is one of Marvel’s cornerstone characters and rumors have the series paving the way for the character to play a major role in Spider-Man 4 where he and the Wall-Crawler team up to take on Kingpin in what’s being called a “street-level Civil War.” Whether or not that turns out to be the case, D’Onofrio is convinced that the series is in good hands with the new creative team.
I think all the powers out there that control this whole creative world of the MCU, also believe that we’re in the right place right now… I have to say, it’s luck, really. I mean, my favorite series so far have been Moon Knight and Loki, and we’ve got those guys as directors, and so that’s pretty lucky. And we’ve got Dario, who’s an incredible writer who wrote The Punisher. We’re in a very happy place right now
-Vincent D’Onofrio
With the series set to resume production soon, there’s still hope that Daredevil: Born Again will debut on Disney Plus early in 2025. And, if D’Onofrio is right and the new creatives are heading down the right path, it could be one of the studio’s best projects yet.
In Daredevil: Born Again, “longtime rivals Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) try to leave behind their darker alter-egos to serve the people of New York only to have their pasts catch up to them.“
Universal is full steam ahead in bringing its iconic animated trilogy How To Train Your Dragon into live-action. And it seems like they got one major addition to the cast, who is quite familiar with the material. Gerard Butler will join the live-action adaptation as Hiccup’s father. This is not his first time playing the role, as he also voiced him in the animated films. He’ll join Mason Thames and Nico Parker, who are taking on the roles of Hiccup and Astrid in Dean DeBlois‘ film.
Disney has become infamous for a live-action adaptation of their classic Disney properties, so there are some concerns about what Universal has planned with a live-action adaptation of their animated film from 2010. It is great though to see them bring back some familiar faces to once again play their characters and it has the original director involved, as Dean DeBlois also worked on the animated projects based on the 2003 book series.
Butler’s return also opens up the question of how close they will try to stick to the original designs, or simply try to make the live-action its distinct project. They can re-use similar elements and the overall story, but they can still try to give it a more distinct visual identity to make it stand out. However, who knows if we might also see others from the animated film return in the live-action adaptation.
Marvel’s upcoming streaming series, Echo, represents a new type of project for the studio. Not only is it the first TV-MA project, but it’s also the first to roll out under the new Marvel Spotlight banner. According to the studios, Marvel Spotlight projects will bring “more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen” that “focus on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity.” Essentially, while the projects may involve familiar MCU characters (indeed Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk has a prominent role in Echo and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil does appear), the stories told within them are self-contained. “Viewers don’t have to watch any other Marvel series to understand the plot,” which means everything needed to completely enjoy Echo will be seen in Echo. And according to director Sydney Freeland, that means a heavy dose of lead character Maya Lopez’s past.
During a global press event before the premiere of Echo, Freeland talked about the unique opportunity to further explore Lopez, who debuted in the 2021 streaming series Hawkeye. “One of the most interesting aspects about the character,” began Freeland, “is the fact that she’s a villain in Hawkeye, right? But then within that, once you start, sort of, pulling in that thread, then you look at where she comes from, right? And you look at, “Oh, this is a deaf, indigenous amputee girl from Oklahoma,” said the director. “‘How the hell does she end up being one of the top-ranking lieutenants in Kingpin’s army?’And answering those questions was such an exciting place to be.”
For Maya, following the events of the Hawkeye season finale, that means finding her way back to Oklahoma to a family she hasn’t seen in years. And as is traditional wisdom, once you leave, you can’t go home again. “Well, what is that like when she goes back home? You know?,” asked Freeland. “And I think for, you know, just for myself and you know, being indigenous, being an American, it was such a fun and exciting place to be. And then once you layer on the Choctaw cultural specifics onto that, it gave us a chance to tell a really fun story, you know? I think one example of that is actually in the second episode of our series.“
As the show’s promotional footage has revealed, Maya’s troubles with Kingin will follow her home. Freeland seems to indicate that the series will explore the path Maya took from Oklahoma to NYC. It’ll be interesting to see what connections to the Kingpin took her away from home and what the consequences will be when she returns.
All 5 episodes of Echo will stream on Hulu and Disney Plus beginning at 9 PM EST on January 9th.
Marvel Studios ambitious 18-episode streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again, began production in New York City in early 2023. Quite a few episodes of the series, which stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, were filmed before the WGA strike forced a shutdown in June. As that strike went on and the SAG strike began, Marvel Studios took a look at what they had put together for the series and decided that the series was in need of a major creative overhaul. Writers Matt Corman and Chris Ord left the show and were replaced by showrunner Dario Scardapane (The Punisher). Moon Knight and Loki Season 2 directors, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, were brought on to determine what was salvageable from the episodes that had been filmed and to take the lead for the rest of the series. With so much going on behind the scenes, production was unable to resume when the dual strikes found resolution; however, according to D’Onofrio, cameras are set to roll soon!
While promoting the upcoming Disney Plus series Echo, which debuts on Hulu and Disney Plus on January 9th, D’Onofrio indicated that a restart of production was right around the corner. According to the star, Daredevil: Born Again will resume filming “not long from now… in a few weeks, in fact.” That information is consistent with the information we heard and shared here:
MCU Filming Updates:
Deadpool 3-Restarted Daredevil- SUPPOSEDLY restarts January '24 Wonder Man-Supposed to restart early '24 Thunderbolts-April '24 Fantastic Four-May '24 Cap 4-restarts when it's ready; hopefully mid '24 Blade-SUPPOSEDLY late '24 Avengers 5-late '24 pic.twitter.com/bwm4SMAZIw
Daredevil: Born Again will see “longtime rivals Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) try to leave behind their darker alter-egos to serve the people of New York only to have their pasts catch up to them.“
Debuting simultaneously on Hulu and D+, Echo is the first TV-MA production by Marvel Studios, allowing it to include a level of violence that fans of the Netflix Defenders-verse series are sure to enjoy. Though Fisk’s brutality was on full display in Daredevil, there’s much more to the character. During a global press event for Echo, D’Onofrio was asked what makes Kingpin, who first appeared in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #50 in 1967, so compelling.
I think that, you know, originally in the comic books, he was also compelling, I think. And I’ve just been lucky to get the opportunity, beginning with the Netflix show, with really good writing to bring him forward in I guess a kind of new way, but just my version of what they did in the original comics. And then, now in Echo, you know, it’s just more good writing and, you know, without the writing, you know, I can’t really do much other than, you know, show up. And so, the writing is there, and it gives me the opportunity to bring the character forward.
Netflix’s Daredevil series was created by Drew Goddard and saw showrunners Steven S. DeKnight (Season 1), Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez (Season 2) and Erik Oleson (Season 3) work to create a complex and nuanced character that, thanks to the performance of D’Onofrio, became a fan favorite despite being a villain. On Echo, head writers Marion Dayre and Amy Rardin led a writers’ room, according to D’Onofrio, captured the parts of the character from Netflix series. “I think, with Echo, is the first time since the Netflix show when I’ve actually felt like we brought Fisk into Maya’s story, but in a way that Fisk is, I think, best portrayed,” explained D’Onofrio. “It’s very similar to the way it was in the original series,” he continued, “and that’s very exciting for me always, ’cause it has a more grittier feel to it and it’s a more emotional story with me and Alaqua’s character, Maya. And I think that kind of tone is the proper way for where my character, I believe, lives best.“
With D’Onofrio affirming that viewers can expect the same tone to carry over into Marvel Studios’ 18-episode streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again, fans of the Netflix series should look forward to having their appetites for the grittiness of that universe sated. All episodes of Echo will stream on Hulu and Disney Plus beginning January 9th.
About Echo
Marvel Studios presents Echo, spotlighting Maya Lopez as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s criminal empire. When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. Echo stars Alaqua Cox (Hawkeye) as Maya Lopez, as well as Chaske Spencer (Wild Indian, The English), Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon, Stumptown), Devery Jacobs (FX’s Reservation Dogs, American Gods), Zahn McClarnon (Dark Winds, FX’s Reservation Dogs) and Cody Lightning (Hey, Viktor!, Four Sheets to the Wind), with Graham Greene (1883, Goliath) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Hawkeye, Daredevil, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), who returns to the villainous role of Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.
Episodes of the series are directed by Sydney Freeland (Navajo) and Catriona McKenzie (Gunaikurnai). Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Stephen Broussard, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Victoria Alonso, Richie Palmer, Jason Gavin (Blackfeet), Marion Dayre and Sydney Freeland. Co-executive producers are Jennifer L. Booth and Amy Rardin. Marvel Studios’ Echo launches on Disney+ and Hulu Jan. 9, 2024.
As Bruce Springsteen once reminded us: only the strong survive. Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk is a survivor. New York City’s Kingpin of Crime survived a point-blank shot to the head in the season finale of Hawkeye and it back on his feet in Marvel Studios’ latest streaming series, Echo, where he will find himself face-to-face with the one who pulled the trigger: his adopted “niece”, Maya Lopez.
In an interview with Jake’s Takes, D’Onofrio was asked who could take down the Kingpin for good, since a bullet to the head couldn’t do the job, and while he doesn’t see that as a possibility, he did reveal who might stand a chance.
This is a very difficult question, because I don’t see that happening. I don’t see Kingpin dying. Kingpin never died in the canon of the comic books, so that’s very difficult. I’ll talk in terms of who could come close to it.I think that it would have to be either Daredevil or Spider-Man…together, the two of them together, maybe. But I don’t see Kingpin going away. He never did when I was a kid, so I don’t expect he will now.
While D’Onofrio can’t come out and say it, it sure seems as though Fisk is destined to find himself facing off against Daredevil and Spider-Man in the next Spidey solo film. Spidey star Tom Holland has also expressed a desire to see his character take on Kingpin and you have to think that at least part of Marvel Studios’ plan in bringing D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox back was to eventually put them together on the big screen.
Fisk can be seen in Echo, which debuts on Hulu and Disney Plus on January 9th.
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