Marvel’s latest series Echo falls under a whole new banner.
With new Marvel series Echo releasing all five of its episodes at once on Disney Plus on Wednesday 10th January, it seems it is all change at Marvel Studios.
This is the first Disney Plus series to not have a staggered, weekly or daily, release, while it is also the first to have a TV-MA rating in the US, meaning it is for mature audiences only.
It is also the first to fall under a new banner – Marvel Spotlight. But if you’re watching this logo play at the start of the episodes and are unsure what it means, then never fear – we’ve got you covered.
Read on for everything you need to know about Marvel Spotlight.
What is Marvel Spotlight?
Marvel Spotlight is a new banner being launched by Marvel Studios, which will be seen at the start of some of its Disney Plus shows, and potentially films.
The banner will first be launched with Echo, the new series set to launch on Disney Plus starring Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, the role she previously played in 2021 series Hawkeye.
The Marvel Spotlight banner will be in place during this series to note that the project is one which you don’t need prior knowledge of the MCU at large to understand. Instead, this will largely be a self-contained project, telling its own story separate from the multiversal shenanigans going on in some of the other series and films.
Marvel Spotlight will have its own logo, alongside a musical theme composed by Michael Giacchino, who has previously composed the scores for Doctor Strange and Spider-Man: No Way Home, amongst other MCU films, and directed Werewolf by Night. You can see it right here.
The brand has been inspired by the anthology comic book series Spotlight, which was first introduced in 1971. Characters to have originally come out of the Spotlight brand include Ghost Rider and Spider-Woman.
Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, told Marvel.com: “Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity.
“Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”
Which Marvel projects will be under the Spotlight banner?
We don’t yet know for certain which future projects will come under the Marvel Spotlight banner, but some have been suggested. For instance, Deadline has reported that Wonder Man, the upcoming series co-created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will be under the banner.
Meanwhile, Daredevil: Born Again, the reboot of the former Netflix show, is also likely to be under the banner, according to Kingpin star Vincent D’Onofrio.
Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast, he was asked whether Born Again would be a Spotlight project, to which he said: “For sure”.
He continued: “That’s my opinion, I imagine it would be. Nobody has said, ‘Hey, did you know this? This is happening’ — nobody said that. But it is of the same tone and feel [as Echo]. The attention that the big bosses are giving to it is extraordinary and Charlie [Cox] and I are just amazed at how much they care about this series. I can’t imagine it being treated any less.”
We can also certainly hazard a guess as to which projects won’t be included.
For instance, any major films such as Deadpool 3, Captain America: Brave New World and the two upcoming Avengers movies won’t be included – they are too linked into the central MCU storyline.
Echo will hit Disney Plus on Wednesday 10th January. Check out the rest of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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