It has been little more than a month since “street level” hero Echo made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the silence since has been deafening. This recent addition to the already underwhelming ensemble of diverse female heroes has failed to even generate what little fanfare Ms Marvel was able to. In response, Disney opted to release all five episodes of Echo at one time, rather than releasing a new episode each week as is the standard for most streaming platforms.
In a desperate move to pad ratings, Disney also released their latest M-She-U product simultaneously to Disney Plus and Hulu. This followed several reshoots and the decision to shave three entire episodes off of a series that was originally slated to have 8. Reception of this show was mixed among viewers, with industry insiders applauding the obvious virtue signaling crammed into this episodic series.
As has been the formula for several years now, Echo can be viewed as Marvel yet again checking boxes rather than focusing on good character development and storytelling. In a move that could otherwise be viewed as “altruistic,” the showrunners chose to cast Alaqua Cox, a deaf and disabled woman, as the series’ protagonist. She is also of Native American descent, giving Marvel the holy trinity of victimhood status.
Despite how much the access media would like you to believe, Echo was not the triumph that they proclaimed it to be—quite the opposite. New ratings data for the week of January 8-14 has been revealed by Nielsen, and it is bad news for Disney. Echo came in dead last in 10th place, even losing out to NCIS and fellow Disney Plus show Bluey.
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To make matters worse, Nielsen measures viewership across all the major streaming services, not just Disney Plus. The 731 million minutes watched of the 5-episode series were combined between both Disney Plus and Hulu. By comparison, that is lower than Ms. Marvel and the dreadful She-Hulk, which at one time claimed the number 7 spot and was only available on Disney Plus. This is not a great look for a company that is already hemorrhaging subscribers and alienating families with its constant political pandering.
Disney saw losses near 1 billion dollars in 2023, with movies such as Wish, the race-swapped live-action The Little Mermaid, and Indiana Jones 5 being soundly rejected by audiences. This decision to focus on a gynocentric MCU has proven to be even more costly, with box office bust The Marvels ranking as one of the biggest Marvel flops to date.
RELATED: FREUDIAN SLIP: Alaqua Cox Signs “M-SHE-U” During Marvel’s Echo Interview In Disney Promotion
The future of Echo on Disney Plus is now in question, as Director of Photography Kira Kelly admitted in an interview with The Direct.
“I’m not sure about that. I feel like the world—You know, anything that we can see Alaqua [Cox] would be amazing. Whether it’s another season for her or whether or not she’s in the ‘Daredevil’ show coming up or any other show. I would just love any excuse to see Alaqua perform again.”
Did you watch Marvel Studios Echo? Let us know down below!
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