After seemingly confirming a Summer 2023 release at San Diego Comic-Con, the upcoming Disney+ show Echo has reportedly been delayed.
Appearing on the newest episode of The Writer's Panel, Echo showrunner Marion Dayre revealed to host Ben Blacker that the Marvel Cinematic Universe series would not release for another year. This surprised Blacker, who, along with the rest of the MCU fandom, expected Echo to hit Disney+ much sooner. That means the show will likely not premiere until Dec. 2023, almost exactly two years after Alaqua Cox made her debut as the character in Hawkeye.
This recent disclosure comes after Marvel mapped out what Phase 5 of the MCU will look like at 2022's San Diego Comic-Con, revealing it was planning to release at least four Disney+ shows and four movies in 2023. Echo was seemingly being eyed for a May 2023 release, as it was placed just after the highly-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which hits theaters on May 5, 2023. However, since Marvel's ambitious Phase 5 reveal, a report has claimed that the studio is re-examining its upcoming slate after "internal negative feedback" over Phase 4's distribution and quality.
The Echoes of Phase 4
After the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, which saw the MCU's popularity at an all-time high, fans have pointed out various problems that have been recurrent throughout Phase 4, including weaker scripts and noticeably bad visual effects. This has become a greater problem in 2022, with movies like Thor: Love and Thunder being torn apart by fans for prioritizing jokes over the story and including distracting VFX. 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the aforementioned Love and Thunder are tied for the MCU's second-worst Cinemascore, both netting a B. The only MCU film which is lower than them is Eternals, another Phase 4 outing that was heavily criticized.
While fans may have to wait a few extra months to see Echo's return, a December 2023 release will see the show lead right into Daredevil: Born Again, which is currently set to premiere in the spring of 2024. Vincent D'Onofrio, who is appearing alongside Daredevil himself, Charlie Cox, in the Disney+ show, teased that the final episodes of Echo will be quite the spectacle. "It's like full-on in the last few episodes of [Echo]," D'Onofrio said. "It's going to be quite something. And that leads into, of course, Born Again."
Echo's specific release date has yet to be clarified.
Source: The Writers Panel, via The Cosmic Circus