Marvel’s Echo: Do You Need to Watch Hawkeye Beforehand?

Echo is the first series under Marvel Studio’s new Marvel Spotlight banner. As studio executives have previously explained, releases that find themselves a part of Marvel Spotlight don’t rely on the larger story being told by other stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the franchise is currently in its Multiverse Saga, Echo has nothing to do with it. Instead, it features a small, self-contained story. Because of that, Spotlight releases (and Echo) don’t rely on other Marvel Studios pictures.

As such, no—you do not need to watch Hawkeye before you jump into Echo. In fact, the first episode of Echo uses archival footage from its predecessor to make sure everyone tuning in is up to speed. A large portion of the episode goes over both Echo and Kingpin’s involvement in Hawkeye, and viewers won’t miss out on anything by skipping the Jeremy Renner-starring series and hopping straight into Echo instead.

“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,” Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum explained at a press event earlier this year. “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.” 

As of now, no further Marvel Spotlight projects have been announced by Marvel Studios.

Starring Alaqua Cox, all five episodes of Echo are now streaming on both Disney+ and Hulu. The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward. Vincent D’Onofrio will reprise his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, and Charlie Cox will reprise his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil. Echo will also star Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene and Zahn McClarnon.

Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre, and Jason Gavin (Blackfeet) are executive producers of Echo. Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King (Seminole), and Jennifer Booth are co-executive producers.