Marvel has revealed a new banner called “Marvel Spotlight,” which will focus on more grounded stories that don’t necessarily connect to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Echo, which recently saw the release of its trailer and is now set for a January debut on both Disney+ and Hulu, will be the first project released under the Spotlight banner.
- The reveal of the Marvel Spotlight banner, which came during a screening of the first two episodes of Echo at the Choctaw Nation’s annual Powwow in Oklahoma, came with musical fanfare composed by frequent Marvel collaborator Michael Giacchino.
- You can watch the reveal of Marvel Spotlight here.
- Marvel Spotlight is rooted in Marvel Comics’ 85-year publishing history as “Spotlight” was an anthology comic series introduced in 1971 and saw the debut of characters like Ghost Rider and Spider-Woman.
- The idea was that comic readers didn’t need to read every other comic that came prior and could simply pick up this issue and enjoy a self-contained story.
- That concept now extend into the MCU as fans will not have to have seen all of the Marvel Studios films and series to enjoy projects released under the Spotlight banner.
- However, it is odd that Echo is the first project released under this banner given that we’ve already been introduced to the title character in Marvel’s Disney+ series Hawkeye.
- We also know the series will include both Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, two characters who have both appeared in the MCU previously and will again in Daredevil: Born Again.
- So, it appears projects under the Spotlight banner will still have at least some connection to the MCU.
What they’re saying:
- Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum: “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.”