Reports indicate that the Echo series actually ended up undergoing reshoots because Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige deemed it initially “unreleasable”. Marvel Studios is currently working on its path back to glory after what many think was a disappointing Phase 4 compared to its previous phases.
Despite successfully establishing the Multiverse and the concept of variants in the MCU, fans still consider Phase 4 as the most lacklustre phase of the franchise. It’s clear for all to see that it pales compared to the performances of the previous films in the MCU.
There are those who have said that Marvel will have difficulty in following up on the successes of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. There are many fans of these comic book movies that feel as though they’ll never reach the same heights as those two films again.
All studios under Disney were mandated to focus on quality since Bob Iger rejoined the company as its CEO. Kevin Feige did say they will be spacing out titles from now on. Many projects were reviewed, and there are titles that are getting their release dates rescheduled because of this new mandate. It appears as though the upcoming Echo series was on of the titles that fell under heavy scrutiny during Feige’s review.
Kevin Feige Deemed First Presented Echo Series Unreleasable
READ MORE: Daredevil And Kingpin Key Players In Disney+ Echo Series
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has the final say for both the creative and business sides of the studio. Thus, his impression and input are, of course, the most important. According to Jeff Sneider in the recent episode of the Hot Mic with John Rocha, Kevin Feige found the first presented episodes to be unreleasable, more like they were “a mess”. Sneider disclosed:
I heard the show was kind of plagued by issues throughout production. I heard that it was a mess, and that the show came in so bad that they basically had to reshoot the entire thing.
Expectations are pretty high for Marvel Studios, so Kevin Feige would understandably have even steeper requirements. He continued:
I’m told that they originally shot eight episodes, and [Kevin Feige] thought it was unreleasable, so they talked about cutting it down to four episodes, or six in post.
Apparently, the proposition to re-edit was not enough because, as Sneider put it:
But then they ended up reshooting it, so my source did not actually know how many episodes they wound up with. But yeah, apparently it needed a top-down rejiggering, and that Kevin was not happy with it.
Based on this information, it would seem that there are parts of the Echo series somewhere in Marvel Studios’ vaults that the public will never see. A different cut or a different flow of the storyline, perhaps? However, it could also be likely that they kept certain aspects of the original eight episodes.
What I am relieved about is that because this happened, it means that the one that they will show later this year will be an Echo series that Kevin Feige is happy with.
The studio wanted Phase 4 to introduce more characters aside from broadening the universe’s scope to venture into multiple timelines and the Multiverse. They needed a new set of members for the Avengers because the concluding movie of Phase 3 bid some of the MCU’s OG members goodbye. Sadly, fans weren’t ready to see the ‘replacements’, no matter how likeable or popular their selected actors were for the role.
Echo Series Got Major Reshoots After Kevin Feige’s Decision
Credit: Disney Plus
READ MORE: Ironheart And Echo Shows Pushed Into 2024
Another point was the introduction of the new Marvel shows for Disney Plus as the company launched its own streaming service. For more than two years, theatres weren’t really in operation, and it’s only recently that restrictions have been lifted. However, there is still a good fraction of the audience who prefer to stay home.
During Phase 4, the produced titles increased for Marvel Studios. Thus, many analyzed that they spread themselves too thin, releasing series, miniseries, and specials one after another on top of the movies that they were also releasing. There was so much going on that audiences didn’t get to catch up on what was happening in the MCU or know whom to root for anymore.
The Hawkeye series introduced us to Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez, who will be featured as the lead in the upcoming Echo series. Storywise, the continuity is there. Reports even indicate that a good portion of the series will also tie in with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil: Born Again series. Moreover, this upcoming Echo series won’t be a comedic series like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was.
Echo would be a more serious tone. It’s also been reported that it’s going to feature a lot more action than the She-Hulk show did. Considering that Vincent D’Onofrio’s King Pin treats her as a daughter, the connection to Daredevil would be undeniable. It would be expected.
Credit: Disney Plus
The MCU’s Phase 5 is already two movies in. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which gave Marvel Studios its second ‘Rotten’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes with just 47% on the Tomatometer, and that was followed up by James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which has had better Tomatometer ratings at 82%.
Judging by the reactions to these two movies, the MCU’s Phase 5 is currently smack in the middle in terms of impressions among fans. Right now, it seems as though people either love or hate the content that Marvel Studios is releasing. There’s no middle ground. Marvel Studios has to make things more positive, and one of the ways to do this is to release better Disney Plus series.
Marvel Studios has already announced that the entire season of Echo will drop on November 29th this year. Some are saying that the one-time release date of the entire season is indicative of the studio’s confidence in the series, but it could also mean the opposite. Marvel might have very little faith in the show and just want to get this series out of the way as quickly as possible in the hope that people will forget about it quickly.
What do you make of the report that Kevin Feige found the initial episodes of Echo to be “unreleasable”? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Disappointing that these pieces are so badly written. You guys have got to get an editor.
Kevin Feige would send it to the scrapheap in a heartbeat.