Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have a lot in common as the two twin titans of Disney's cultural dominance. Both have a lot of good moments, but they've also both begun to stagnate in the modern day. Andor, the newest Star Wars series offers a few things that the MCU could really use in its franchise.
Accusations of cultural hegemony hit both Star Wars and Marvel with overwhelming frequency. Fans of both franchises consistently report feeling sick of large swaths of the established canon. Anything that breaks with tradition is celebrated, which is one small part of the reason that Andor is such a welcome entry.
Andor didn't have a ton going for it when it was announced. It's a prequel depicting the life of a secondary character from a spin-off. Cassian Andor wasn't anyone's favorite character when the show was announced, leading many to wonder why he'd be selected for a full series leading role. Now that the show is fully underway, it's been a hugely impressive effort, recontextualizing the entirety of the franchise with an incredible new creative vision. Andor manages to be a piece of the franchise that survives entirely on its own merit while also being intrinsically tied to the key mythos. By focusing on a minor character and centering its narrative on character development, rather than focusing on callbacks, Easter eggs, or fanservice, Andor is free to shine. The MCU needs something similar, and the upcoming Echo series could be the answer.
Echo is set to hit Disney Plus next summer. It stars Alaqua Cox as the eponymous Maya Lopez, a deaf martial artist with the ability to perfectly mimic any other person's physical motions. She's a minor figure in the comics, introduced as a love interest and rival to Daredevil in 1999. She's since become a central member of the New Avengers and a fun street-level hero in her own right. In the MCU, she was introduced in much the same way as her first appearance in the comics. She's sort of the main antagonist of Hawkeye, but her real power is well above her station. Fans knew that she would be important as soon as she was introduced, thanks to her presence in the comics, but she's still a minor figure. She's going to be elevated to the role of full-fledged hero, and her star vehicle could be the Andor of the MCU.
Echo is the adopted daughter of Kingpin who escapes the years of conditioning from her malevolent father and becomes a crime-fighting warrior. She operates under the name Ronin for much of her on-page adventures. She's often tied to Daredevil in the comics and Kingpin is a key part of her backstory, but she's largely untethered from the rest of the universe. Echo can carry a story on her own, without the need for constant callbacks and references to other parts of the franchise. Marvel has done some recent projects that feel detached and self-contained. Moon Knight is mostly in its own world, though much of what happened in the narrative will eventually spill out to the larger universe. She-Hulk, on the other hand, featured multiple cameos and made multiple references to the larger MCU. Echo has the chance to impress by telling a singular and self-contained story without stooping to advertising for other projects.
But, a lack of cameos and callbacks isn't the only thing that gives Andor its unique presence in the franchise. Andor approaches the Rebellion with a fresh level of sincere gritty maturity. The series manages to be "mature" without being edgy by exploring the real implications of the franchise's classic struggle. Marvel could pull off a similar level of bold subversive storytelling by taking a smart approach to street crime. Comic book superheroes have always battled everyday criminals along with their typical costumed supervillains, but the tone of that coverage has almost always been silly. Street crime, like terrorism, has a lot of sociopolitical circumstances and difficult elements. Echo grew up as the daughter of a crime boss and the leader of a street gang, she has experience with every side of that world. The franchise could deal with an element that has often been neglected, making Echo something special.
Echo could be a lot of things, and fans won't know until it drops next year, but the show has a lot of opportunities to be special. Andor could only exist within the Star Wars franchise. It isn't just a fantastic show that happens to be attached to the mythos, it's a deconstruction in conversation with its source material. Echo can take lessons from this outstanding Disney Plus series and learn to be the same kind of bold statement in the franchise that created it. Echo could be a staggering entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so long as they have the right creative direction.