While all eyes are on the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios have been cooking many more exciting projects, including Echo, a Hawkeye spinoff focused on Alaqua Cox’s titular heroine. During an interview with Collider’s Steven Weintraub for Quantumania, producer Stephen Broussard revealed new details about the upcoming Disney+ series, teasing Echo's unique tone, which will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Broussard has been working with Marvel Studios since the MCU conception, producing films such as The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger. More recently, Broussard has helped to bring absolute terror into the MCU by producing Werewolf by Night, a gorgeous black-and-white horror special that homages the golden era of the Universal Monsters. Since Broussard is also working on Echo, we had to ask about how the series' production is going and what fans can expect from the show. As expected, Broussard didn’t reveal any Marvel Studios secrets, but the producer did tease that Echo will play with ideas and tones that remain unseen in the MCU. As Broussard tells us:
“[Production on ‘Echo’] is going well. It's very different. Like, talking about Werewolf by Night to this. It's a very different tonal sort of thing. I don't want to say too much because there's not a whole lot out there in the world, but it feels very grounded, it feels very spiritual in ways that feel fresh for us. Alaqua as the lead is incredibly compelling. I'm sort of hard-pressed to think of something that it feels like outside in the broader realm of the MCU, let alone within what we've done here. So stay tuned on that really cool stuff.”
Still talking about Echo, Broussard underlined how it’s important for the future of the MCU that each film and series fully embraces the tone shifts their titular character demands. There couldn’t be a successful Werewolf by Night movie if Marvel Studios weren’t ready to commit to horror, and in Echo’s case, the MCU has to deal with the heroine’s grounded roots. As Broussard puts it:
“It's always about embracing whatever it is, right? Like embracing a Universal Hammer Horror film, kind of leaning into that and, I think leaning into what's unique about any viewing property. What's unique about this property is that it's much more grounded, and it's in rural Oklahoma, which is where it takes place. So it's fun, and it's been an amazing teamwork, and working with that team behind the scenes.”
When Is Echo Coming to Disney+?
Echo will bring back Charlie Cox as Daredevil, a part he played in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The series will also see Vincent D'Onofrio returning as the Kingpin, last seen in Hawkeye. Echo also stars Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, and Cody Lightning, with Graham Greene and Zahn McClarnon. To ensure the series will remain true to the heroine's Native American heritage, the series is being directed by Native filmmakers Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie.
Echo was initially set for release on Disny+ in the Summer of 2023. However, showrunner Marion Dayre has implied that the series has been delayed until the end of this year.