Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2023
When Echo arrives on Disney+ on January 10, 2024, it will premiere under the new Marvel Spotlight banner, complete with a new intro logo composed by Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino. Essentially, Marvel’s new subcategory is a branding for standalone offerings as opposed to series and films that connect to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The subcategory takes its name from an anthology comic series first introduced by Marvel in 1971, which introduced new characters that readers did not have to fully commit to over several issues.
The news was announced at a screening of the first two episodes Friday night at The District at Choctaw Casinos & Resorts in Durant, Oklahoma, as part of a larger Choctaw Day celebration.
According to Marvel.com, Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming at Marvel Studios, said at the screening: “Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring deeper, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, we’re focusing on the street level. “It’s about the continuity of a larger MCU.”
“Just like comic fans didn’t have to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic,” he added, “our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story .”
The ironic thing about bringing Echo under the new Marvel Spotlight banner is that the show actually connects to the larger MCU. The series focuses on deaf Native American assassin Maya Lopez, who first appeared in the Disney+ series Hawkeye. Vincent D’Onofrio’s villain from the Disney/Netflix series “Daredevil” also starred in “Hawkeye” and continues his storyline in “Echo.”
Several Disney+ series have a connection to the larger MCU films, e.g. B. Disney+’s WandaVision spilled over into the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while both the WandaVision and Ms. Marvel series bridge to the upcoming film The Marvels on November 10th. The 2019 Captain Marvel film follows on from the Disney+ series Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Check out the new Marvel Spotlight logo here.