Marvel Announces Echo Series Is Rated TV-MA - Here's What That Means

Marvel Studios has released the trailer for its upcoming "Echo" series, a spin-off of "Hawkeye" that will drop its first season on Disney+ and Hulu in January 2024. Unexpectedly, the series has been given a TV-MA rating and looks to push the boundaries for the franchise in terms of what it depicts onscreen. The trailer itself features plenty of brutality, with actor Vincent D'Onofrio reminding fans why he made the perfect Kingpin as he delivers a beatdown to a rude hot dog vendor. Echo (Alaqua Cox), too, gets to show off some impactful fighting. If the trailer is anything to go by, "Echo" is looking to be the most violent series to be a full-throated MCU project. But what, exactly, does a TV-MA rating mean?

In general, the TV-MA rating allows for a wide degree of latitude in depicting sexual content, graphic violence, and profane language, but just because a show has that rating doesn't mean it will contain all of those aspects. For example, "Breaking Bad" was rated TV-MA, and while it contained plenty of shocking violence, instances of sex or swearing were rarer. On the other hand, the recent "The Boys" spin-off "Gen V" contained swearing, graphic sex scenes, and disturbing violence in equal measure.

What an MCU production will choose to do with the label is unclear. Previous Disney+ MCU series have not been rated TV-MA and were mostly intended as family-friendly affairs. But Netflix series like "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," and "The Punisher," which were loosely MCU-adjacent, were well-known for their harrowing depictions of violence.

The trailer for "Echo" gives us a look at how Maya Lopez came to be Wilson Fisk's adopted daughter. The sequence opens with a young Maya (Darnell Besaw) trying to buy a hot dog using sign language, with the vendor responding by mocking her disability. Kingpin, watching from a nearby SUV, drags the man into an alley and beats him to death before gently escorting Maya away. The rest, presumably, is history, as Maya trains to become one of Fisk's deadliest assassins.

From the "Echo" trailer alone, we can tell that Marvel's interpretation of the series' TV-MA rating won't shy away from blood. The sequence with the hot dog vendor is reminiscent of Kingpin's most terrifying moments from "Daredevil," as blood splatters across his suit and coats his knuckles. Throughout the two-minute teaser, we also see plenty of gun violence. Moreover, viewers are told to set their Disney+ profiles to allow mature content in order to stream the series, making it clear the studio is leaning into the rating as part of its marketing strategy.

The closest comparison in terms of content will probably be those aforementioned "Defenders" shows, especially "Daredevil." In other words, a lot of violence, perhaps some swearing, and a bit of disturbing subject matter. That makes sense based not only on the trailer but also on the proximity of "Echo" to "Daredevil." We even see a glimpse of the lawyer-turned-vigilante in the "Echo" trailer.