An “Echo” of “Daredevil”

 by Jonathan Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 19, 2024

 

Echo ultimately proves to be the perfect name for the most recent Marvel Studios’ television project. Beyond the thematic connections the series makes to this term, the title exists as some sort of (unintended) meta-commentary on the show’s existence within the greater scope of previously released Marvel television. 

I’m sure that I am not the first to note, but Echo feels like just that: an echo of the Marvel series that have come before it. If you had seen any of the marketing in the lead-up for Echo, it was made abundantly clear where the focus of the show was: the pseudo-familial relationship between Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). Also, if you went in having seen the most recent wave of trailers, TV spots, promotional images, and such, you wouldn’t be blamed if you thought that Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/Matt Murdock was going to play a large role within the show. While the latter does make an extended cameo, the focus squarely is on the relationship between Maya and Fisk – both in the episode with Daredevil and across this limited series. 

 

Daredevil, as a show, is second-to-none when it comes to quality for Marvel releases – with D’Onofrio’s Fisk being one of the most nuanced villains Marvel has put on screen both in terms of performance and writing. While there were complaints about how Fisk was treated in Hawkeye, I was pleased to see that Fisk generally remained at the same level of complexity from when I had seen him last in Daredevil season 3. 

 

If you’re reading this review – and likely other reviews – asking why the author is spending so much time talking about a different show, it’s because Echo really does not stand on its own unless viewed in relation to Daredevil. To a certain extent, this makes sense. If we look at the comic books the series is based on, Maya Lopez originally appeared as a Daredevil side character before crossing over into other works such as The New Avengers and Moon Knight. The adaptation of the character from page to screen is generally the same in terms of origin – one just need swap out Maya believing Ronin killed her father for Daredevil. The relationship between Fisk and Maya is also generally the same from the comics: Fisk mentors her from a young age after having her father killed, but all the while lying to her about how her father truly met an untimely demise. I’m touching on all of this because it’s important to understand how intertwined Maya Lopez is with Matt Murdock in the comics. It seems that this is something the filmmakers behind Echo understood. If you were to watch Echo and put it next to the gritty-noir storytelling of the Daredevil series or next to the action-comedy of something like Hawkeye (where the character debuted), the show would be infinitely closer in tone with the former opposed to the latter. 

 

Quite frankly, Echo is treated much more akin to a spin-off of Daredevil than it is of the actual show it is spinning-off from (i.e., Hawkeye). I think even Marvel understands this, as on Disney+ the show is now grouped together with the Defenders Saga – which constitutes all the previous Netflix shows. 

 

All of this lead-up, however, doesn’t answer the question most people ask when reading a review: Is the show any good? 

 

Well, the answer to that depends. Did you like Daredevil? It feels like a horrible sentiment when reviewing a new show to keep talking about one that ended over five years ago, but it really will determine how much enjoyment one gets out of this. If you loved Daredevil – both its characters and the style to which it was brought to the screen – you’ll find plenty to chew on in Echo. In particular, the dynamic between Fisk and Maya makes the show worth watching alone. Beyond this, though, there was a clear visual style that was brought to the various episodes that gave the series additional depth beyond what was on the page. 

 

However, the show never particularly comes close to the quality that Daredevil and even some of the other Defenders shows held. And if you didn’t like any of the Netflix shows or haven’t seen any of them, well, you’ll likely not enjoy this, and/or you just might be completely lost. 

 

The best thing about Echo is that it’s a simple story told well. This will likely have no implications for the Marvel universe going forward. Maya probably won’t show up in the next Avengers film (watch that comment age like milk). But maybe that’s more of what Marvel needs. Just simple stories that are told well.  Not everything about Echo works: some of the side characters fall flat; there are some odd editing decisions likely stemming from requests made by higher-ups at Marvel; and it doesn’t always feel like there is enough material here to support an entire limited series. However, the show certainly falls on the better end of MCU television since the transition from Netflix to Disney+. In a time of multiverse-ending superhero stories, it’s so nice to get back to personal problems between people. 

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Jonathan Keating is a guest columnist for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast – and by extension Disney Biz Journal – at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 level, and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!

Daredevil, Source Material, Quality and Costs

 by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 17, 2023

 

Producing a quality product while keeping costs under control is good news in free enterprise, with owners/shareholders and customers both being quite pleased. At the opposite end, seemingly out-of-control costs combined with eroding quality spells trouble.

When it comes to movies and streaming shows in recent years, with a few welcome exceptions, the general trend for Disney has been poor-to-middling quality combined with sky-high costs, or at best, pretty good productions saddled with insurmountable costs. That’s part of the reason we heard recently that the company was going about slashing costs.

 

Of course, though, the point is to reduce costs while enhancing quality. We see this across industries, with assorted innovations and efficiencies creating products of greater value in the market, while at the same time costs are reduced and productivity is enhanced. Hollywood, however, is an industry that often seems to struggle with this. Or at least it does for a time, but eventually the market doles out punishments via the wrath of shareholders, consumers, or both.

 

Much of Hollywood, including Disney, seems to be at this juncture, and it’s going to be interesting to see what players survive, emerge and how the industry might be altered.

 

For Disney, an interesting test case is Daredevil.

 

The Marvel show, of course, first ran on Netflix for three seasons. And if it wasn’t the best superhero show ever made, well, it’s in the top two (and I really can’t think of what might come in ahead of it).

 

So, in the midst of this struggle over costs and quality, Disney is bringing Daredevil, starring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, back on Disney+ with an impressive 18-episode run. But with production under way, news came in late September that Marvel/Disney basically stepped in to more or less clean house, except for Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin and apparently John Bernthal’s Punisher. Writers? Gone. Directors? Gone.

 

Not knowing what was going on, the reasons for these actions amount to speculation. However, we can plug these decisions in with what else has gone on and is going on with Disney. Again, those challenges in terms of costs and quality.

 

Given the rather unimpressive run Marvel has had on Disney+ except for Loki, and keeping in mind the value of Daredevil, the hope – from a fan and a shareholder perspective – is that Disney/Marvel took a close look at what was being produced in this new Daredevil season, and was not pleased.

 

That seems to be backed up by a recent Hollywood Reporter story, which included the following:

 

• “Fewer than half of the series’ 18 episodes had been shot, but it was enough for Marvel executives, including chief Kevin Feige, to review the footage and come away with a clear-eyed assessment: The show wasn’t working.”

 

• The problem? “The show is Marvel’s first to feature a hero who already had a successful series on Netflix, running three seasons. But sources say that Corman and Ord crafted a legal procedural that did not resemble the Netflix version, known for its action and violence. Cox didn’t even show up in costume until the fourth episode. Marvel, after greenlighting the concept, found itself needing to rethink the original intention of the show.”

 

The Hollywood Reporter went on to note what a mess most Marvel streaming shows have been behind the scenes – in part due to a Marvel movie process that hasn’t served the company well in terms of its movies of late, whereby the movie or show is filmed, and then “fixes” are made post-primary filming. If that’s the new Marvel Way, it was destined to come crashing down. The new process? It’s reported, “Showrunners will write pilots and show bibles. The days of Marvel shooting an entire series, from She-Hulk to Secret Invasion, then looking at what’s working and what’s not, are done.” 

 

Also, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, was quoted: “It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honor what’s so great about the source material?’”

 

Now, there’s a crazy thought. But honoring the source material runs much deeper than what Marvel has been doing post-Avengers: Endgame. Will that truly be fixed? We’ll see. 

 

And as a fan and shareholder, they better not screw up Daredevil. Oh yeah, and bring back Foggy Nelson and Karen Page (I really shouldn’t have to remind you people of such things.)

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right? (Keating is a Disney shareholder.)

 

Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 levels , and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!

 

Consider books by Ray Keating, including…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.

 

• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here and signed books here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.RayKeatingOnline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” is Just Horrendous

 by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

August 19, 2022

 

What’s the best thing I can say about the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+? It was only 37 minutes long. The suffering was limited. And I believe the remaining episodes are only supposed to be a half-hour – so there’s that.

 

I always try to keep an open mind before watching a movie or show no matter what critics are saying and what’s swirling via word-of-mouth. Sometimes that pays off when a vehicle turns out better than the buzz. That’s not the case with She-Hulk. In fact, it’s just the opposite, as the first episode was worse than what was circulating about it.

This is supposed to be a comedy … I think? The problem is, well, it’s not funny. From a humor perspective, it’s downright painful, including attempted jokes about whether Captain America was a virgin or not that came off as painful caricatures of something being written, without much thought, about and for millennials. Millennials deserve better.

 

And because this is a show about a superhero, we need a fight. Mark Ruffalo appears in the first episode as the Hulk/Bruce Banner, who is the cousin of She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany). Therefore, the two have a Hulk-vs.-She-Hulk fight. Does it make any real sense? No. But what the heck?

 

Could this get better? Well, it’s hard to believe that it could get any worse. Wait! For some reason, Daredevil is supposed to make a multi-episode appearance in She-Hulk. That worries me given that the Daredevil series (first on Netflix and now on Disney+) ranks as the best Marvel streaming series by far (actually the best superhero series), and it’s hard to imagine a show more different than She-Hulk in that Daredevil had depth in story and characters. So, when I ponder Daredevil appearing in She-Hulk, I now think: Oh, no.

 

Rating: 1 Star out of 5

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, and the Alliance of Saint Michael novels; and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Two great ways to order Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel, which is Ray’s sixteenth work of fiction, and the first in the Alliance of Saint Michael series. Signed paperbacks here and the Kindle edition here. 

 

Two great ways to order Ray Keating’s new nonfiction book – The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Signed paperbacks here, and paperbacks, hardcovers and Kindle editions here.  

 

Get all of Ray Keating Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries in paperback and for the Kindle at Amazon.com and signed books at www.RayKeatingOnline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Chapek’s Disney+ Welcomes “Daredevil” and Updated Parental Controls

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 3, 2022

 

The Walt Disney Company announced earlier this week (on March 1) that the Marvel shows that just left Netflix would be landing on Disney+ on March 16, along with updated parental controls. This decision offers information on where Disney+ is headed under Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

For almost any Marvel fan, it was good news to hear that Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher, as well as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which originally aired on ABC, would be on Disney+. 

 

I just finished watching Daredevil, for example, and it clearly ranks as the best Marvel streaming/television series made to date, given the depth of the characters, the power and tightness of the storytelling, the intelligence of the dialogue (including well-placed humor), and the gritty feel and action. Indeed, Daredevil ranks among the very best that streaming/television has had to offer … ever. And now, more people will be watching it, and hopefully, all of this increases the chances for a return of the series.

 

At the same time, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher are not children friendly – indeed, far from it. Hence, we have Disney updating its parental controls. As Disney explained, “When opening Disney+ for the first time on or after March 16, all subscribers in the U.S. will be prompted to update their Parental Controls. This includes the option to select content ratings restrictions for each profile as well as to add a PIN to lock profiles. Those that choose to keep their settings the same will continue to enjoy Disney+ as they always have within a TV-14 content rating environment, with the option to make changes at any time under Profile settings.” Makes sense.

 

Nonetheless, this decision to bring Daredevil and Company to Disney+ rather than Hulu, where many people thought these and similar shows would wind up, speaks to two issues. 

 

First, even with the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ bundle, there is a big advantage for Disney to have all of its Marvel content in one place. As Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming, said, “Disney+ has served as the home for some of the most beloved brands in the industry, and the addition of these live-action shows brings more from the Marvel brand together, all in one place.”

 

Second, going hand-in-hand with this is the likelihood that the company has made a noteworthy shift in course for Disney+. In November of last year, reports circulated that Disney executives were wrestling with (arguing over?) the idea of bringing more mature content to Disney+. The stories went that CEO Bob Chapek favored adding more mature content, while Bob Iger, the former CEO and chairman of the board, wanted to keep Disney+ family-friendly. 

 

Well, as of the end of 2021, Iger was gone as board chairman. Chapek is the CEO, so to the degree that this disagreement had existed, it’s gone, and Disney+ has just added – between Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher – 13 seasons of more mature Marvel content. Oh, yes, and while it remains an unknown, the glimpses that we are getting of Moon Knight, arriving of Disney+ on March 30, also points to more mature content.

Hey, it’s Bob Chapek’s Disney now, and while many of his decisions have been restricted or impacted by the pandemic, the future of Disney+ is not one of those, and we’re getting a clearer picture of a Disney+ with far more varied content than many had previously presumed.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Get more out of 2022 with The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution! It combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more. Also, “The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution” comes with a handy spiral binding for easy use. 

 

Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13^th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Again, get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – grab it at Amazon.com or signed editions at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.