Sidney Freeland, producer and director of the Marvel series Echo. © The Walt Disney Company / Marvel Studios
After a complicated year 2023, marked by commercial failures in cinema (Ant-Man 3, The Marvels), unconvincing Disney+ productions (Secret Invasion, My name is Groot), and behind-the-scenes problems, the MCU urgently needs to get back on the path to success.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will try to reverse the trend in 2024 with Echo. This new mini-series, available in full on the streaming platform this January 10, centers on the superhero Maya Lopez (seen in Hawkeye), and marks the return of Kingpin and Daredevil.
Alaqua Cox, the main performer of the series Echo. ©Marvel Studios
The program is also the first from the Marvel Spotlight label, featuring characters less known to the general public, and adventures less connected to the rest of the MCU. In several respects, Echo therefore represents the start of a (hoped for) revival for Marvel.
The new Marvel Spotlight label. ©Marvel Studios
We were able to discuss this subject (and others) with Sydney Freeland (Reservation Dogs, The Wilds), executive producer of the series, and director of one episode.
Interview with Sydney Freeland, producer and director
Sidney Freeland, producer and director of the series Echo. © The Walt Disney Company
The biggest difference is that our series is more visceral, a little more violent than the other series in the MCU. The story ofEcho is more anchored, more human, our issues and our consequences are therefore more at the family level. It is not the fate of the universe that is at stake here. It is the destiny of a family. We are very happy that the series is taking a different turn, in its tone, and creatively.
“When I came to the project, one of the first things I did was take sign language classes.”
At the start of the project, I asked myself a lot of questions: how do you go about filming a scene with a character who doesn’t speak? Can we do a five-minute conversation scene with two characters who don’t speak? And the answer is: yes, unequivocally and without doubt. And when we came to the project, one of the things that my department heads and I did was take sign language classes.
Vincent D’Onofrio returns as Kingpin. ©Marvel Studios
While the inflection of our voice sets the tone and subtext of our sentences, it’s slightly different in sign language. Here, it all comes through the face and the emotion. To fully capture the emotion, we opted for more close-ups of faces, and this ended up dictating the entire visual style of the series. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that Alaqua Cox [l’interprète de Maya Lopez, ndlr] be beautiful, magnetic and charismatic.
Alaqua Cox in the series Echo. ©Marvel Studios
The most important thing to me was that we portrayed the Choctaw Nation with integrity, authenticity and respect, which is why we had to involve them early in the creative process. We created dialogue and exchanged ideas to try to capture the Choctaw Nation as best we could, and we got their participation and feedback. They have been incredible collaborators.
“The most important thing to me was that we portrayed the Choctaw Nation with integrity, authenticity and respect.”
You have no idea! I can’t wait to see Echo blend in with the rest of the Marvel Universe. The rest of the MCU better watch out, Maya Lopez is coming.
- Watch the trailer forEcho :
Series Echo releases January 10 on Disney+.
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