MCU’s first TV-MA-rated series Echo will be the “darkest” among the shows made by the company so far, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said at its premiere event in Los Angeles, also attended by Hollywood stars Vincent D’Onfrio, Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer and Tantoo Cardinal on Monday.

Talking about the unprecedented ‘depth and darkness’ of Echo’s storyline, Feige said, “This is a TV-MA show. This is an adult show. Just like the Marvel Knights Comics where Echo first started, it goes much deeper and much darker in ways that we could only do with a TV-MA rating, so I am excited for people to see, as readers of the comics know, the different tonalities that we’ve been able to do in all of our shows and this being the darkest one yet.”

TV-MA shows in the US are only meant for mature audiences and are considered unsuitable for children below the age of 17 years.

Touted as a spin-off to Marvel Studios’ 2021 television miniseries Hawkeye, all five episodes of Echo will premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on January 9 in the US. In India, the episodes will be available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from January 10 onwards.

Alaqua Cox, who is all set to reprise her role as Maya Lopez from Hawkeye in the forthcoming spin-off series, revealed that her character is a “badass” despite being deaf and an amputee.

Vincent D’Onofrio, returning as the brutal antagonist Wilson Fisk a.k.a Kingpin, added, “Kingpin is back for sure and he’s going to get what he wants like always.”

In a teaser recently shared by Marvel Studios on Instagram, Sidney Freeland, the director of Echo revealed that Kingpin has played a huge role in the upcoming series. The teaser also featured action sequences from the series with Vincent reflecting on the ruthlessness of his character.

Sidney went on to highlight how the father-daughter dynamic served as the fulcrum of Echo's plot. Alaqua’s Maya will go to any length to avenge her father's death at the hands of Kingpin, and it is the escalating rage within her that serves as the springboard for the narrative events.

Charlie Cox will reportedly appear in the series as Kingpin’s archnemesis, Matt Mudrock, a.k.a, Daredevil.

Marvel Studios on Tuesday shared pictures of stars who walked the red carpet at Echo premiere in Los Angeles.“Stars and filmmakers of Marvel Studios’ #Echo hit the red carpet at a special launch event tonight in Los Angeles,” wrote the makers of Echo on X (formerly Twitter) alongside pictures of celebrities present on the occasion.