What to watch before Marvel’s ‘Echo’

The MCU is so huge now that it’s hard to jump into a fresh Marvel Studios project completely cold. Maybe part of the reason The Marvels crashed and burned was because it was a self-confessed sequel to about five different shows and movies. That’s not the case with Disney Plus’ Echo, however.

The pioneering project released under the brand-new Marvel Spotlight banner, which is apparently to be used for more standalone MCU productions going forward, Echo stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, an anti-hero long-term subscribers of the platform should already be familiar with. Don’t expect Kang crossovers and multiversal mayhem in this one, as Echo exists very much in the gritty, street-level corner of the Marvel universe.

Despite the Marvel Spotlight banner, though, it has to be said that you will get the most out of Echo if you’re familiar with certain other MCU films and series. Here are your homework assignments to complete before Echo drops all of its five episodes on Jan. 9.

Daredevil (seasons 1-3)

It’s fair to say, if you’re excited for Echo you’re probably already a die-hard Daredevil fan, as Charlie Cox’s latest return as the Man Without Fear is one of the show’s major draws. Nevertheless, there’s no better way to prepare for the Hornhead’s highly anticipated return than to relive how it all began for him and binge your way through all three seasons of Netflix’s show-stopping series once more.

If you’re really strapped for time, maybe just rewatch season 3 to remind yourself of where the Netflix show left Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Alternatively, if you’ve got nothing but time on your hands, why not follow up all seasons of Daredevil with the rest of the Defenders Saga — including Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage, The Defenders, and (if you must) Iron Fist.

Hawkeye

The main reason for the confusion surrounding the Marvel Spotlight banner is that Echo is, by its nature, a Hawkeye spinoff. Don’t forget that Alaqua Cox debuted as Maya in the December 2021 series, which introduced her as the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, who ultimately worked for her adoptive uncle, none other than Wilson Fisk/the Kingpin.

While Echo will no doubt recap viewers on the salient points of her prior journey, seeing as it’s been over two years since Hawkeye aired at this point, it would definitely be handy to revisit all six episodes of the Jeremy Renner vehicle ahead of Maya’s return. Especially as we just saw Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop again in The Marvels.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Again, if you’re the sort of person who’s hyped for Echo, then you’re probably a Daredevil completist, someone who eagerly hoovers up each and every appearance from Charlie Cox as the adventurous avocado-at-law. In that case, no walk down Daredevil memory lane would be complete without a rewatch of his grand return to the world of the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Yes, Cox’s cameo in the ginormously successful Spidey threequel only lasts for mere moments, but his solitary scene carries a whole lot of weight. Through this, Matt became the very first character from Marvel Television to transfer over into the movies, something which cemented the vigilante in MCU canon without a doubt, thereby paving the way for the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again and his other Disney Plus appearances…

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Echo could not be more tonally different from She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but if you want to imbibe the unabridged Daredevil story prior to diving into Echo then you need to give the divisive legal comedy a go. Specifically, Cox shows up in the final two episodes of the season, which introduce an unlikely but epic romance between Matt Murdock and Tatiana Maslany’s titular Jade Giantess.

Many fans didn’t take to how much lighter the generally gloomy hero is depicted in She-Hulk, what with his revamped yellow suit and newfound love of smiling, so expect Echo to revert Matt to his factory settings, complete with Netflix-era red costume. Nevertheless, can you really appreciate his return to his roots in Echo if you overlook that time he hooked up with Hulk’s cousin and fought a guy dressed like a frog?

What If….? season 2

No, none of the main cast of Echo appear in What If…? season 2, but the animated series does have one star in common with its live-action Disney Plus counterpart. Devery Jacobs joined the MCU in the sophomore run of the anthology show in a truly groundbreaking role — she voiced Kahhori, the very first superhero created exclusively by Marvel Studios.

We’ve yet to find out if Kahhori could appear elsewhere in the MCU, but it’s worth noting that Jacobs is set to turn up in Echo as well. Plenty of actors have played multiple roles in this franchise, so there could well be no link whatsoever between Jacobs’ animated and live-action Marvel characters, but the franchise certainly has an intriguing opportunity here to connect its two Native American heroines together in some form.