The debut of the “Marvel Spotlight” series staggers to find its own identity, feeling like the same old MCU projects that we’ve seen since Endgame.

(SPOILERS BELOW & GRAPHIC WARNING)
You know what show just came and went? Hawkeye. Considering that the original Avenger was the only one of the core six to never get a proper movie but instead get relegated to a Disney+ show shows you how much of an afterthought the project was. So imagine my surprise when the show that was an afterthought was getting a spinoff based on a character that ended up becoming an afterthought as well, to where Marvel big wig Kevin Feige almost had the plug pulled on the show before Disney stepped in. Was it amicable, probably. Was it worth it, god no. Echo is typical Marvel Sludge, show that exists to fill out a January block on Disney+ and nothing more, and after wasting 4-5 hours analyzing it, i’m still clueless on who Echo really is, who this show is fort, or what the show’s about.

A Terrible Character and a Worse Protagonist

Going back to Hawkeye, there were plenty of characters that could’ve deserved a better spotlight and with more interesting storytelling. Maybe show us what Kate Bishop’s been doing since teaming up with Hawkeye. Show us how this iteration of Kingpin rose to power in the MCU since Echo shows some small deviations from the Netflix shows. But instead, we’re left with Echo, one of Kingpin’s assassins that was as generic as they come, and after having watched the show, I have as much interest in Echo as I do in wet paint.

Who is Echo? She’s a bitch. She’s a remourseless killer who acts more out of personal gain for herself than anything else. She’s a character that never changes perspective or goes through any arc over the duration of show, almost like the writers didn’t know what to do or didn’t try. Like I mentioned previously, her overall arc over the show is muddled, like what does she want? It’s implied that she’s going after Kingpin, but it could be a case of either stopping his reach or simply talking over and becoming just as awful as he was. You cannot convince me that this is a show about the bad guy fighting another bad guy. Look, I understand anti-heroes and that every protagonist has their moments, yet I cannot recollect one good thing that Echo has done that wasn’t a result of something she caused. Why should I have any sympathy for her and what she does if Marvel shows me all the bad things that she’s done throughout the show. Echo uses people without even showing a lick of respect or amnesty. She murders innocent animals just because. She even murders people unrelated to Kingpin even after betraying Kingpin, and worst of all, she returns to her hometown to start a war with Kingpin, KNOWING WELL ENOUGH that her friends, family, and loved ones will get caught in the crossfire.

This wouldn’t even be much of an issue if Echo’s performance was at least decent, yet Alaqua Cox, the lead actress, cannot act. In a show where most of her performance rests upon her expressions & actions, she always has this bored and mopey demeanour on her face. It’s less like she’s mad because Wilson Fisk ruined her life, but it’s more like she’s mad because she spilt her coffee. It doesn’t help that she only has one other acting credential (which was Hawkeye) and before this, she worked at an Amazon Package facility and was typecasted for the role. See this photo below me? This is the sole emotion that you will see on her face for 95% of the time she’s on screen.

Disney Ex Machina

The biggest issue with Echo is that there’s no plot. Following from her betrayal in Hawkeye, Maya Lopez returns to her hometown of Tamaha in Oklahoma. The show says it’s to reconnect with her roots, btut in reality, she’s hiding out from Wilson Fisk, a.k.a the Kingpin. When she tries to reconnect with her family, most of them aren’t that ecstatic to meet her, leading to her realizing that Fisk has connections to her hometown. Episode 1 ends with her planning to wage war with Fisk, yet she only attacks one of his trains and he shows up almost instantly. She never really has any moments of development, let alone anything major of note happening. Like Fisk’s goons take over a skating rink and hold her family hostage, yet after watching the entire show, all I can remember is that she escaped, she fought the bad guys, and that was it. Remember that the show only has a 5 episode limit (for some reason) so there’s no time given to fully let these charcters and scenes marinate. So the finished product is left feeling unfinished, there’s no character devlopment for anyone, no memorable fights, no OMG moments, and the plot has as many plot holes as forgettable moments.

Oh my god the plot holes, like so much just happens, then leaves within like a minutes notice. Echo would be fighting Daredevil one minute, only for him to leave without issue. Then when Kingpin finds out that Echo lost, she gets a promotion. Or when Kingpin finds out Maya’s location, only to want her back in the family, even though she tried to ASSASSINATE him. Why? Who knows, we don’t see enough of their history to warrant such a response, even though half of Episode 1 is nothing but a recap of what happens in Hawkeye. One of the biggest revelations at the end of the show is that Echo’s mother had healing powers that she used to save a small bird (that Echo tried to intentionally kill), yet she dies uneventfully in a car crash. That’d be like having Tony Stark die because of a peanut allergy, or having Captain America die of hypothermia. Better yet, while typing this review, I realized something. Why didn’t her mother cure Echo of any of her disabilities? Or why aren’t any of the other members of her family who have this type of power doing anything to help their community?

Viewer’s Discretionary is Advised, I Think

I noticed a trend that for any new Marvel show releasing on Disney+, they always try to market one, and mainly one aspect of the show while disregarding what the bulk of the show was about. For Secret Invasion, it was Nick Fury being a badass, but in reality, the show downtalked Nick Fury every minute while he’s on screen. The previously mentioned She Hulk spent it’s time mentioning all the insane cameos that She Hulk would have as clients & adversaries, including Daredevil, yet the show ended up being about an insufferable & entitled bitch who took out her problems on everyone else (Loki Season 2 gets a pass because I thought it was decent.) Where am I going with this? Well other than the constant use of Charlie Cox & Vincent D’Onofrio in the promotional material, every promotional video mentions the use of excessive violence, blood, and graphic scenes. Yet the finished project treats the mature elements like an afterthought.

Take a show like Netflix’s Daredevil, sure the show has its fair share of violence, but the themes present helped justify the mature ratings. We saw how deep the criminal underworld of New York was, seeing people struggle with drug abuse, the idea of believing in a higher power, these are themes that justify an adult rating. Yet Echo’s mature rating comes from the fact that the budget allowed for some more fake blood. On top of the clumsily edited fight scenes, the only change with the fights is now when people get shot, blood comes out. It’s not a revolutionary idea for the MCU but it feels more like something done to get more eyes on the product, like they knew the show was going to tank, yet needed a reason to get asses in seats. However, I’d argue that the excessive use of blood and violence takes away from the fighting, especially in one scene where this character dies slowly and dramatically, like he’s been betrayed, but then a fountain of red Kool-Aid comes gushing out of his mouth. Like how could you not laugh at that? Funnily enough, the only decent fight scene was the one with Daredevil, yet he’s barely in for like two minutes. Why does he leave even though Echo killed like 3 guards before he showed up, and seemed like he had the upper hand in the fight? I couldn’t tell you. Hell, the climatic fight in episode 5 barely has any blood and it ends up like any other climatic MCU climax.

On a Technical Level…

The editing in this show is abysmal, almost like they published the fought cut instead of the finished cut. Shots will cut to & from each other without rhyme & reason, and facial expressions will also change on a seconds notice. This is most notable during Episode 2 during the train heist, which has so many jump cuts and shot reverse shots, it’s almost like it’s trying its hardest to keep the viewers attention. Also the cinematography is just mid. Nothing notably bad, but having watched the show, I can’t really call out one specific shot or composition for being truly eye catching or memorable.

However, if I wanted to give out one good thing about Echo, it’s the attention to detail with ASL (American Sign Language) Each scene with Echo will either have the characters translating what they say as they communicate the sign language, or when Kingpin’s on screen, there will be an interpreter behind him that translates what needs to be said, and acts as an actual character in the show. It’s extremely beneficial for those in the deaf community who want to engage with a show differently beyond just simply using subtitles, and I personally felt that the ASL blended well with the presentation on screen (most of the time). But I do have one problem, and it’s a big one relating to the plot.

I apprectaie the nuance of showing support for the deaf & handicapped communities, but not once in this entire show was her handicap or deafness either a problem to overcome or something that allowed Echo to access a different approach to a situation. It just exists becuase they can. In the comics, Echo’s deafness allowed her to develop an ability to copy her opponents fighting styles, making her a perfect opponent for combat heavy heroes like Daredevil. Yet here, even after developing powers at the end of the show that can heal her disability, she just has them and her character still doesn’t change. Why is this such a big deal? Well the only reason I’m bringing this up is becuase those who worked on the show also made such a big deal during the show’s premiere. So I ask this once more:

What is Echo?

Echo is bad, not only as a character, but as a show. Morally corrupt & flat out boring, Echo is a story about a villain and how she takes no accountability for murder, theft, and emotional manipulation. I find it especially funny that Echo is the only Marvel show of its kind that only has five episodes, probably because of poor structure & lack of any ideas. Hell, She Hulk Attorney at Law is one of the worst shows I’ve ever watched and even that managed to push out 8 episodes of pure spite. If you want a great way to measure the worth of any superhero project, remember the line from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”. Echo has no responsibility, no morality, and I wouldn’t complain if I never saw this character again.

3/10

(btw the post credits scene is him trying to run for mayor of New York, which feels like something we already knew but that could be the Marvel brainrot sitting in)