Not to start this out on a negative note, but I feel like I have to explain my mindset going into this show. I think most people are well aware that Marvel is not in the best place right now and, while the content isn’t as bad as everyone is making it seem, the air around it all is not what it used to be. As much as I try to form my own unbiased opinions and also stay hopeful about the things that I like, I can’t pretend like it hasn’t started to get to me. It does honestly feel like more of a chore than an excitement these days to keep up with all the Marvel content. But I am a completist and, especially after the amount of time and energy I’ve invested into this universe already, I feel like I can’t quit now. So I’m just staying on this train and continuing to hope that the pendulum starts to swing back in the other, better direction.

That being said, I actually thought Echo was better than I was expecting. Following how awful Secret Invasion was and the way Disney decided to dump the full season of this show in January AND the fact that I could not have cared less about this side side side character, the bar was really low. But the show surprised me by being better than those pieces would lead you to believe.

This show is the first in a new sub-division of the Marvel universe called “Marvel Spotlight”. The intention is to create content that eliminates the need for homework; essentially, you don’t need to have seen other Marvel properties to watch Marvel Spotlight content. It is meant for a more general public, an audience that MCU content is rapidly losing as the many, many properties (I think we’re up to 33 movies and 9 seasons of television at this point) continue to build upon themselves. Theoretically, I think it’s a good idea to create more content that can be easy entry points for people. However, I do not think this show accomplishes that goal. I can’t speak to what it would be like to watch this show having no previous Marvel knowledge but, just based on my own experience of watching this show, I cannot imagine you would have any idea what was happening half of the time. Even the first episode of the series is basically just 45 minutes of cut together flashbacks and clips from other shows where the characters have appeared to try to give some background information to viewers and I thought that episode was not only confusing for all viewers but also just not good television. The series also ends with a mid-credits scene that seems to set up a plot-line for a future property. Doesn’t that kind of story connectivity defeat the purpose of these “standalone” shows/movies? I do like the Marvel Spotlight idea but, for it to really work, it needs to be executed a lot better.

Echo is also the first Marvel show to be rated TV-MA. I thought it was noticeably darker and more violent than any other Marvel show or movie. It’s definitely not on the level of something like The Boys, but it did stand out for Disney. This is another interesting choice for Marvel to potentially take some of their content down darker paths, away from the vibrant, comedic feel most of the material features. Did Echo need this tone to serve its plot? Not necessarily. Did it take away from the plot? No, not necessarily. I guess it was a good enough show to test out this experiment.

The thing that really sets Echo apart is the character of Echo, mostly referred to as Maya. Maya is Native American, deaf, and an amputee. Focusing in on any one of those communities would make for a fascinating story, but this character has so much to explore. The show mostly looks at her Native background and touches on her deafness. A lot to unpack here. I really like how the show incorporates sign language and how expressive the actors are able to be while communicating this way. From what I understand, the comics-accurate character does not have “super powers”. Neither does this character’s initial appearance in the Hawkeye series. But Echo shows her starting to develop powers linked back to her ancestry. In some ways, I liked what they were going for but, ultimately, I think the idea of this character, like many others, is that her disability is her power. She is highly trained but human, like Black Widow or Hawkeye, and is able to take what many would view as disabilities or weaknesses and use them to her advantage to become even more powerful. She shouldn’t need actual super powers on top of that. It kind of defeats the purpose of the character.

The origin of Maya’s powers is a different story. Representation is always important and Maya represents many communities. Echo is the first Marvel television show centered on a deaf Native American superhero. That is an incredibly important accomplishment. We also seem to be having a particular moment with Indigenous stories in entertainment right now. The show Reservation Dogs has been fairly popular for a few years but, at this very minute, Killers of the Flower Moon is nominated for multiple historic Academy Awards and I am also watching the new season of True Detective which features a Native population in Alaska. These stories all approach the wide-ranging subject of Native peoples in different ways. Reservation Dogs is a comedic lens for the present day while True Detective: Night Country takes a more serious look at current issues. Killers of the Flower Moon magnifies a dark history while Echo highlights the more positive elements of history and tradition. Representation is important and everyone deserves a chance to see themselves reflected in media. Superhero media feels particularly special because it shows these stories don’t always have to be sad or tragic, they can be transcendent and powerful.

That all being said… it was pointed out very astutely by multiple podcasters I respect (“The Ringer-Verse” and “House of R”) that Echo now falls into a trend in Marvel storytelling of diverse characters having powers and backstories that connect them to their heritage. We saw this in Black Panther, Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, superheroes whose powers are ancestral and cultural links and representative of years of history of their communities. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it gives these stories an opportunity to be told on a large scale, it often is a lot of story to fit into one movie or television show. Properties like Ms. Marvel that are supposed to have a fun, light vibe often get weighed down by the heaviness of all that history. These heroes have to carry the weight of an entire culture on their shoulders while also trying to have individual personalities and fight villains. Why can’t a Native American girl just get bitten by a radioactive spider or hit with a gamma ray? Why do her powers have to be passed down hundreds of years from the very first Choctaw people? No one is asking Iron Man or Captain America to represent an entire culture of people. We just want to see them be entertaining and save the day. So why do we put such a burden on our minority characters to not only entertain us but also communicate the full history of a group of people? Sometimes they make it work and other times it feels like we’re just setting these new characters up for failure by not allowing them to have fun. I think the representation is great, the storytelling is great, the history is great, but there needs to be a little bit more balance.

Maya’s heritage is an important part of Echo and what makes a lot of that story work is the strength of the cast. Everyone is really fantastic in their acting and their signing. Honestly, Echo is at its best when it is operating as more of a family drama than a superhero story. When it came to Maya’s powers and “heroic” pursuits, I was pretty lost most of the time on her goals and motivations. But with her family dynamics, I understood that completely. And I wanted more. 

This show is definitely much better than Secret Invasion (again, low bar), but you can still feel a lot of the seams here. Like I said about The Marvels, it is unfortunate that the minority characters seem to get the short end of the stick with a lot of Marvel content. Echo is actually a really interesting character with a lot to offer and the show does have some good moments, but all of that seems to get lost between the editing and the marketing and the experimentation and everything the Marvel machine does in the process. It really does feel like with all the misses Marvel has had lately, they’re just overthinking everything and doing too much. Marvel, like Echo, could really benefit from loosening up and just letting everything breathe a little.

2024 Count: 4 seasons, 6 movies