Marvel announced that one upcoming series will get a new banner label, following in the tradition of some Marvel Comics branding.
For some time — especially since the MCU began including Disney+ series in its continuity — the MCU faced criticism for seeming to require hours of consumption of past projects in order for one to gain enough contextual understanding to follow just one movie or show.
As such, context-dependent projects like Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania saw more casual Marvel fans confused, and shows like Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk: Attorney at Law could have been viewed as having incredibly low-stakes when compared to shows like Loki - all of which are advertised and presented to fans similarly.
One Show to Begin New "Spotlight" Categorization
Following the release of the new Echo trailer, Marvel Studios revealed that the show would be the first under a new label within the MCU — the "Marvel Spotlight" banner.
The announcement explained that Spotlight projects will have "a musical fanfare composed by frequent Marvel collaborator Michael Giacchino," implying a departure from the standard Marvel Studios logo music and visual build-up.
Furthermore, the announcement discussed how "Marvel Spotlight is rooted in Marvel Comics' 85-year publishing history," as it is inspired by the comics line of the same name which began in 1971.
In the comics, Marvel Spotlight was a way for fans interested in less fantastical, cosmic-level Marvel to focus in on that, without needing the other, larger context of the universe.
Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum said that the new banner will provide "a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen," allowing for consumption of the entire continuity to be less of a necessity:
"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."
He explained that "just like comics fans didn't need to read" all the cosmic comics to follow something more street-level, fans do not necessarily "need to have seen other Marvel series to understand" Echo:
"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."
A More Structurally Comics-Like MCU
Kevin Feige has stated before that part of the reason there is so much story in the MCU – something fans continue criticizing, given how much context seems to be needed for every individual project — is that there are decades of comics history to pull from. Despite this, the comics do successfully manage to maintain an audience, most of whom have not read every single comic ever published.
A major barrier of entry for the comics industry is the misconception that there is a single "plot" to follow with a beginning, middle and end. Marvel Comics simply don't work that way.
Though one may be a bit confused, a reader could theoretically start from anywhere, and that would be considered relatively okay. There are, of course, better and worse stories to begin with, but there isn't a single "first comic" to necessarily start with.
If the MCU truly wants to be able to tell the sheer number of stories that Marvel Comics has in its canon, let alone stories at the scale of those in the comics, it would be worth attempting this method of storytelling. Perhaps not not requiring fans to see every single piece of canon to understand just one — emulating the comics' method of storytelling — could help combat superhero fatigue?
Echo will hit Disney+ and Hulu on January 10, 2024
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
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