Marvel’s ‘Echo’ Director Attempts To Drum-Up Interest In Disney Plus Series By Teasing “A Number Of Cameos”
Spencer Baculi
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In making what feels like a desperate ploy to get viewers interested in the widely-unasked-for Disney Plus solo outing, Marvel’s Echo director Sydney Freeland has teased that the series will feature a number of cameo appearances from across the franchise.
The former Grey’s Anatomy, Fear the Walking Dead, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds offered this insight into her next project’s extended cast during a January interview given to TV Insider in promotion of Echo‘s upcoming premiere.
Beginning her time with the outlet’s Meaghan Darwish with a recollection of her own history in developing the Hawkeye spin-off, Freeland explained, “When I first came on the project and in watching Hawkeye and reading the comic books, the thing that was most interesting and fascinating to me about Maya Lopez is the fact that she was a villain.”
“And in the conversations with Marvel,” she continued, “their response was like, ‘Hey, let’s lean into that. Let’s explore that. Let’s see if we can push the envelope. Let’s go down the rabbit hole and just see where it goes.’ And that’s really what we tried to do.”
Further attempting to separate the Disney Plus series from the sea of other superhero projects audience have to choose from, Freeland then asserted, “What’s great about this is that we don’t have these huge cosmic consequences.”
“It’s not the fate of the universe,” detailed the Drunktown’s Finest director. “It’s a much more human story in its scope and scale. But at the same time, that also meant that because she’s involved in the criminal world, we wanted to lean into those aspects of her storyline.”
Following a brief discussion regarding the series’ TV-MA rating – the first such given to a Disney Marvel production proper, as all of the latter studio’s previous Netflix television outings received this label – Freeland was eventually pressed by Darwish for information Daredevil’s recently confirmed Echo guest spot.
Per a New Year’s Eve preview of the heroes’ cameo provided by the House of Mouse’s UK branch, a portion of The Man Without Fear’s screentime in the series will see him engaging in an embarassingly uncoordinated and inconsistent hand-to-hand brawl with Echo herself.
Unfortunately for her host, Freeland responded to her inquiry by keeping mum regarding the two heroes’ eventual meet-up.
However, unwilling to leave both Darwish and the public hanging on the topic, the director side-stepped the question by teasing, “There are a number of cameos in our series, and fans of the MCU will see characters from other films and shows that they recognize.”
“But at the same time, you don’t have to have done your homework coming into this,” she ultimately clarified. “People who aren’t familiar with the MCU can still come in and watch this.”
As to the exact identities of Echo‘s guest stars, Freeland declined to provide any details regarding just which Marvel heroes would soon cross path with the Native American heroine.
However, given her franchise history and role as a street-level character, educated speculation reasons that she may receive a visit from such heroes as Hawkeye (either Clint or Kate), The Punisher, or possibly – in an admitted swing from left field – Moon Knight.
Of course, in light of her actress’ current existence as ‘the only universally-liked element of the MCU’ and the studio’s scramble to build a new set of ‘core Avengers’ ahead of the team’s fifth cinematic assembling, it’s more than likely one such cameo slot will go to Ms. Marvel herself.
Barring any unheard complications, the entire five-episode reduced run of Echo is set to spill out onto Disney Plus on January 9th.
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