- Marvel's Echo is set to release on January 9, 2024, and expand the Defenders saga.
- To understand the depth of Echo's story, watching Daredevil, Hawkeye, and Spiderman: No Way Home is essential.
- The story of Echo likely follows the events of Hawkeye, where Alaqua Cox made her debut as Maya Lopez.
A new character is joining the Defender-verse, the universe of Daredevil this January 9, 2024, with the brand new Marvel series, Echo. This character is rather interesting for being the first live-action adaptation of a deaf Native American character. To fully understand the continuity of this TV series, there are several shows and movies you should definitely watch before you dive into Echo. However, if you do not wish to watch a lot of stuff, find out about the 3 essential movies and shows you should watch before Marvel’s Echo.
1. Daredevil (Season 1-3)
Kickstarting the Defenders Saga, Charlie Cox made his debut as Daredevil on April 10, 2015. Daredevil soon became a widely popular and cherished show, but the cancellation of both Defenders and Daredevil left Cox’s future in the MCU hanging. However, after a long disappearance, Daredevil appeared in cameo roles multiple times in MCU’s phase four.
Currently, a new series “Daredevil: Born Again” is in the MCU’s pipeline. Now you may ask, “Why should I watch this before Echo?” The simple answer to that would be that Echo is set in the same universe as Daredevil. It is essential to watch this series to learn about the depth of the character Kingpin holds.
In addition, some clips of Daredevil engaging in combat with Echo have been released pointing towards some connection of Echo’s story to Daredevil’s.
2. Hawkeye Season 1
The most important series to watch before watching Echo is Hawkeye. The simple reason is that Alaqua Cox made her debut as Maya Lopez in this series. Lopez was somewhat of a threat to Clint Barton and Kate Bishop.
In this TV series, Maya is seeking vengeance from Clint for killing her father as Ronin, Hawkeye’s vigilante identity. Also, Maya took charge of leading the Tracksuit Mafia in pursuit of Ronin, but Wilson Fisk, or Kingpin, harbored more sinister intentions during the events of the series.
After discovering the truth that Kingpin had ordered the murder of her father, Lopez took matters into her own hands. In the finale of Hawkeye Season 1, she confronts and shoots Wilson Fisk in the eye, which explains Kingpin’s eyepatch featured in Echo’s recent trailers.
The upcoming Echo series is most probably set to explore Maya’s backstory and her complex history with Kingpin along with a pursuit to uncover her true family background.
Echo’s portrayal as a minor villain in Hawkeye hints at her continuing to explore a rather dark path in Echo and upcoming MCU projects. This suggests Echo will be portraying her more as an antihero rather than a typical superhero, just like her original Marvel Comics depiction.
3. Spiderman: No Way Home
Most of the Daredevil fandom almost lost hope of seeing Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock after the cancellation of the Daredevil series. However, his cameo as Peter’s lawyer in No Way Home left the fanbase in absolute surprise. This appearance sent a wave of frenzy among fans since this made Daredevil a part of the wider MCU.
Another outcome of his appearance resurfaced and somewhat confirmed Cox’s Daredevil returning in Daredevil: Born Again. However, in this movie, we only saw him as a lawyer but if Daredevil had been made a part of the wider MCU, and Echo is set in the same universe, so this points towards the possibility of Maya Lopez’s inclusion in the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe.
