Marvel’s Echo Wasn’t Supposed To Be The MCU’s First TV-MA Show

The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Echo, releases Tuesday, January 9, on both Disney+ and Hulu. That’s a first for a Marvel Studios extension of the MCU. It’s not the only first the show is achieving, though. It’s also Marvel’s first TV-MA program.

For those that don’t track TV ratings, TV-MA technically means the show is “designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17,” according to the FCC. It’s the Rated-R of television. Thus far, the shows have either been rated TV-PG or, in some instances like Loki, TV-14. For Echo, though, which stars Alaqua Cox in the role of the deaf leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, the boundaries are being pushed into TV-MA territory. That puts it firmly in the same territory as the Marvel/Netflix shows from a few years back.

Given that Vincent D’Onofrio is reprising his role as Kingpin from both Hawkeye and Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix, the darker and more violent tone makes sense. However, it turns out dipping into the darker side of the MDCU had less to do with Kingpin than Echo/Maya Lopez, herself.

“Echo is a more adult show. It’s our first TV-MA show, but we didn’t set out to make a TV-MA show,” executive producer and head of streaming television and animation at Marvel Studios Brad Winderbaum explained during a press conference for the new series. “We set out to make a Maya Lopez show. And this is a character who has a violent past, who’s dealt with some real trauma, who has really difficult decisions to make and ultimately has to, you know, confront people she loves in order to grow and change.”

According to Winderbaum, “In following this character, it created the tone. It created a grittier, more grounded story for the audience. That just so happened to be more adult. More TV-MA. But it really was always born from Maya as a character.”

It’s certainly an interesting development for the MCU. As Marvel Studios struggles to regain the notoriety it did during the Infinity Saga that wrapped up with Avengers: Endgame, it’s at least exciting to see them trying something new. What’s more, according to Winderbaum, this could be the dawn of a new era for Marvel.

“In a way Echo marks a new beginning for the studio,” he said. “It’s a new tone for us and it is a truly grounded and emotional journey. Not just for the audience.”

How that could impact where the MCU goes from here is anybody’s guess. As we already know, the only Marvel Studios movie in 2024 will be Deadpool 3 this summer. After that, the next scheduled film is Captain America: Brave New World, which is scheduled to hit theaters in February 2025.

There will still be plenty of Marvel content this year, though, so don’t be too worried. On the live-action front, we also get Agatha; Darkhold Diaries–a spin-off of WandaVision–this year, along with animated shows like Eyes of Wakanda and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man both expected to debut in 2024. We also have the Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again live-action shows coming to Disney+, though there is not a set release date for either.

For now, Echo drops Tuesday night, January 9. Unlike previous Marvel releases, all of the episodes will be made available to binge at once.