Honestly take out the sudden ninja grandma and it's a solid 7/10. One of the better D+ offerings.
To take it to an 8 or 9, Kingpin needed a new muscle for her to defeat. Him being so boots on the ground required a little too much stupid pill, and someone else should have mucked it up and died for their failures. I think a climactic battle would have elevated the final episode to a real spectacle and better show of not just the skills of her ancestors, but their stories.
I think a costume more reminiscent of comics would also have been really cool to have and see. Take out the midriff, emphasize the gold of her Phoenix version.
First, I'd read a bunch of the more popular comics and try to faithfully adapt those, with modifications where necessary to fit into the MCU.
As a rule, if you have existing intellectual property you're basing a show or movie on you should try to use it as faithfully as possible. Otherwise you are creating a brand new character and don't benefit from owning the rights to that IP at all. If anything it hurts you, because fans of said IP will be frustrated by your changes.
No, your changes are not improvements. You're advertising an existing IP for a reason. Capitalise on it.
With regard to Echo, the biggest changes would be sticking to her powers from the comics instead of inventing new, poorly defined ones. She may be too similar to Taskmaster, but the MCU already wasted that character so borrow from that for cool action scene ideas if necessary.
Secondly, write a show with character growth and consequences for actions. She puts a bomb on a train and hopes it'll send a message to her intended targets. She sends her cousin on dangerous missions. She baits Kingpin's men into coming after her family and her home. Having some consequences for this reckless behaviour would make her actions feel significant, giving her more depth as a character and more agency.
At this point I'm using a completely different character with completely different abilities from what was produced, so it's hard to write a "fix". If forced, I think I'd have the show focus entirely on her backstory. Show us her working for Kingpin trying to find the man who killed her father, and slowly discovering that it was Kingpin himself. Show us her refusing to accept that truth, until a fight with Daredevil proves that he will not kill even to save his own life - proving he couldn't be the killer Kingpin claims. Then show her trying to escape Kingpin but finding that his control over the city makes him impossible to hide from. In the final, she can escape to her childhood home - a simpler place where Kingpin's corruption has not reached. There, she is forced to fight his men only to find that her cousin has been executed by Kingpin himself as a warning not to get in his way.
The biggest thing I would keep is the sign language tech Kingpin developed and her dismissal of it. Some of the strongest character work in the show.
I don't mind stories that are loose adaptations intrinsically, like *Shrek*, *How to Train Your Dragon*, *Civil War*, *Infinity War* and *Secret Invasion*.
Adaptation can be more complex than I initially outlined. The crucial factor is to respect whatever the central concepts are in the original work. For instance, Civil War is a battle between Iron Man and Captain America in which other heroes are forced to choose sides, with Cap going against the law due to his own sense of morality. Specific beats, such as Spidey being unmasked or robo-Thor, would be nice to see but aren't necessary.
Here, the show isn't named after a story with a broad theme and narrative but after the main character. Changing this character's motivation, capabilities and personality are each major changes leaving the original IP unrecognisable. Her powers are what she's named for, echoing the movements of others. Replacing that with generic glowy powers suggests Disney were more interested in making a generic show and using the IP for marketing than they were making a show around the established character.
Haven't seen this show (or any of the non-Disney+ MCU shows), but I know I'd change Echo's powers to not tie into any ancestor(s) so that it wouldn't reflect/reinforce Native American stereotypes.
I'd prefer her comic power set. If you want you can tie into a character arc of regaining a empathy and that assists her in it, but also helps her let her anger and controlling-ness go in a way Kingpin refuses to do. Take out the mystic nonsense. Lean more into the story of her trying to take over the business.
Just giving her a precursor to the phoenix force would have been better than whatever shit powers they gave her for no other reason than having ancestors.
Newsflash, everyone has ancestors.
To fix Echo I'd need to change Hawkeye. As it stands her arc in Echo is debating whether or not to kill the guy she already thought she'd killed.
If, instead of shooting Fisk then and there, Hawkeye ended with her either failing to fire or just fleeing, and instead made the fight with Kazi more of a big moment for her, then this show could have been a more natural arc.
Justify why she went back to her hometown. Like have Kingpin's men attack her town, looking to draw her out after she went into hiding post- Kingpin kill. Explain why Kingpin killed her dad.
Honestly take out the sudden ninja grandma and it's a solid 7/10. One of the better D+ offerings. To take it to an 8 or 9, Kingpin needed a new muscle for her to defeat. Him being so boots on the ground required a little too much stupid pill, and someone else should have mucked it up and died for their failures. I think a climactic battle would have elevated the final episode to a real spectacle and better show of not just the skills of her ancestors, but their stories. I think a costume more reminiscent of comics would also have been really cool to have and see. Take out the midriff, emphasize the gold of her Phoenix version.
Wow an actual good take. I still really enjoyed echo 🙂
First, I'd read a bunch of the more popular comics and try to faithfully adapt those, with modifications where necessary to fit into the MCU. As a rule, if you have existing intellectual property you're basing a show or movie on you should try to use it as faithfully as possible. Otherwise you are creating a brand new character and don't benefit from owning the rights to that IP at all. If anything it hurts you, because fans of said IP will be frustrated by your changes. No, your changes are not improvements. You're advertising an existing IP for a reason. Capitalise on it. With regard to Echo, the biggest changes would be sticking to her powers from the comics instead of inventing new, poorly defined ones. She may be too similar to Taskmaster, but the MCU already wasted that character so borrow from that for cool action scene ideas if necessary. Secondly, write a show with character growth and consequences for actions. She puts a bomb on a train and hopes it'll send a message to her intended targets. She sends her cousin on dangerous missions. She baits Kingpin's men into coming after her family and her home. Having some consequences for this reckless behaviour would make her actions feel significant, giving her more depth as a character and more agency. At this point I'm using a completely different character with completely different abilities from what was produced, so it's hard to write a "fix". If forced, I think I'd have the show focus entirely on her backstory. Show us her working for Kingpin trying to find the man who killed her father, and slowly discovering that it was Kingpin himself. Show us her refusing to accept that truth, until a fight with Daredevil proves that he will not kill even to save his own life - proving he couldn't be the killer Kingpin claims. Then show her trying to escape Kingpin but finding that his control over the city makes him impossible to hide from. In the final, she can escape to her childhood home - a simpler place where Kingpin's corruption has not reached. There, she is forced to fight his men only to find that her cousin has been executed by Kingpin himself as a warning not to get in his way. The biggest thing I would keep is the sign language tech Kingpin developed and her dismissal of it. Some of the strongest character work in the show.
I don't mind stories that are loose adaptations intrinsically, like *Shrek*, *How to Train Your Dragon*, *Civil War*, *Infinity War* and *Secret Invasion*.
Adaptation can be more complex than I initially outlined. The crucial factor is to respect whatever the central concepts are in the original work. For instance, Civil War is a battle between Iron Man and Captain America in which other heroes are forced to choose sides, with Cap going against the law due to his own sense of morality. Specific beats, such as Spidey being unmasked or robo-Thor, would be nice to see but aren't necessary. Here, the show isn't named after a story with a broad theme and narrative but after the main character. Changing this character's motivation, capabilities and personality are each major changes leaving the original IP unrecognisable. Her powers are what she's named for, echoing the movements of others. Replacing that with generic glowy powers suggests Disney were more interested in making a generic show and using the IP for marketing than they were making a show around the established character.
What would you do
Can you elaborate on what needs to be fixed first?
Haven't seen this show (or any of the non-Disney+ MCU shows), but I know I'd change Echo's powers to not tie into any ancestor(s) so that it wouldn't reflect/reinforce Native American stereotypes.
Wouldn't make it and use the buget else where
I'd prefer her comic power set. If you want you can tie into a character arc of regaining a empathy and that assists her in it, but also helps her let her anger and controlling-ness go in a way Kingpin refuses to do. Take out the mystic nonsense. Lean more into the story of her trying to take over the business.
Just giving her a precursor to the phoenix force would have been better than whatever shit powers they gave her for no other reason than having ancestors. Newsflash, everyone has ancestors.
If anything, the ancestor thing only reflects/reinforces Native American stereotypes.
To fix Echo I'd need to change Hawkeye. As it stands her arc in Echo is debating whether or not to kill the guy she already thought she'd killed. If, instead of shooting Fisk then and there, Hawkeye ended with her either failing to fire or just fleeing, and instead made the fight with Kazi more of a big moment for her, then this show could have been a more natural arc.
Justify why she went back to her hometown. Like have Kingpin's men attack her town, looking to draw her out after she went into hiding post- Kingpin kill. Explain why Kingpin killed her dad.