Marvel Studios' upcoming Hawkeye spinoff series Echo has reportedly received a considerable delay. It's not exactly unheard of, especially with projects still a way off like this one. But the news itself almost came out of nowhere.
Marvel Studios' Echo series, which will star Alaqua Cox as her character Maya Lopez from the Disney Plus series Hawkeye, was already confirmed before Hawkeye even premiered. So it's been on the radar for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans for quite some time now. Up until now, it's been on track for a summer 2023 release, right around the same time as Loki's highly-anticipated season 2. One might expect the delay announcement to come from a press release or something similar. But this one came from, of all places, a podcast.
Echo showrunner Marion Dayre recently appeared on the podcast The Writers Panel and rather unceremoniously dropped this new information. When host Ben Blacker inquired about the release, she had an unexpected answer. "This [the podcast] comes out in a week or two," Blacker said. "When does Echo premiere?" Dayre then replied, "That will be probably a year from when this comes out." Even the host was surprised by this, mentioning how he'd figured it was only a handful of months out.
Echo stars deaf actress Cox in the title role, again playing her breakout character Maya Lopez from Hawkeye. She'll also be joined by Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, both reprising fan-favorite roles of their own. While Kingpin appeared in Hawkeye alongside Maya, Daredevil did not, though he did notably show up during some excellent episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. He'll also be leading his own series in Daredevil: Born Again, which is set to premiere in 2024.
The episode of The Writers Panel premiered on December 13th, meaning Echo is now slated for a holiday 2023 release. It seems rather appropriate, given the similarly festive release of Hawkeye in late November 2021. Still, it's rather unexpected to get this information via a largely informal podcast interview. But at least now the fans have a more concrete release to look forward to.
Echo will feature Cox as the first deaf actress and character to lead a Marvel film or show as Maya returns to her hometown to reconnect with her family and her Native American roots. That sort of representation is already enough of a reason to check the series out, and the calibre of the actors involved is icing on the cake. Here's hoping the delay isn't too agonizing.
Echo will release during the 2023 holiday season on Disney Plus.
Source: The Writers Panel (via Collider)