How Marvel's Echo Might Have Perfectly Set Up Daredevil: Born Again

Warning: This contains spoilers for Echo.

Marvel may have done a bit more than meets the eye in its recently released show, Echo. During the mid-credits scene of its final episode, we see a defeated Kingpin watching a news report of two people talking about how New York City's mayoral election is up for grabs. As the scene ends, it's heavily hinted that Wilson Fisk will enter the race and attempt to run for Mayor.

In the Marvel comics, a major story arc known as Devil's Reign aligns with Echo's adaptation of Wilson Fisk seeking power through political means. In the six-issue run that was written by Chip Zdarsky in 2021, Fisk becomes the mayor of New York City and, in doing so, outlaws superheroes. To enforce this law, Fisk deputizes supervillains, and this causes the earth's mightiest heroes to go into hiding. As the story goes on, it's revealed that Fisk was able to sway people into voting for him and his bills through some questionable manners. This eventually leads to a major clash between the Avengers, which is partially led by Daredevil at the time, and Fisk, who is backed by his army of villains.

Not only is this a significant story in the main Marvel Comic universe, but it also gives hope that other Marvel Netflix characters may appear in the MCU. In addition to Daredevil playing a vital role in this specific story arc, so do several other street-level heroes. It has been confirmed that Jon Bernthal will be reprising his role as The Punisher in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series. In addition to Bernthal returning, it's also been confirmed that Wilson Bethel will return as Bullseye. Based on recent set leaks, we know that Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll are also reprising their roles as Foggy Nelson and Karen Page.

With many former Netflix Marvel actors returning, it may not be too far off to assume that Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist (Danny Rand) may appear in one way or another in the upcoming series, because each plays a specific role in this story. It doesn't hurt that all of their respective shows and The Defenders have been officially made canon in the MCU.

Although this may be wishful thinking, adapting this story could also serve as a potential introduction to a live-action adaptation of Miles Morales' Spider-Man--mainly because in Devil's Reign, two Spider-Men play a significant part in the story, with neither one being Peter Parker. Based on the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Disney has made it clear that it's interested in introducing Miles to the MCU, as they continuously leave fans speculating and drawing connections between Easter eggs left by the studio.

Also important to note is that the upcoming Daredevil series on Disney+ is named after a famous Daredevil story arc written in the '80s by Frank Miller, called Born Again. In that series, Wilson Fisk finds out Daredevil's secret identity. After discovering who he is, Murdock is forced to live on the streets as he is riddled with anxiety and is constantly looking over his shoulder. Based on the title alone, it's clear that Frank Miller’s Born Again story will have an impact on the show, but based on how Echo ended and some key issues that happened in Devil's Reign, it's possible that the upcoming show could be trying to adapt both story arcs as a single story.

Without giving too much of the plot away, both of these stories center around Matt Murdock trying to keep his secret identity safe from Fisk. That alone could be a potential way the stories can be told within a single series. Granted, it's very unlikely that Disney will fully adapt the Devil's Reign storyline due to the massive amount of characters involved. But it can still hit the main plot points as it did with Captain America: Civil War.

Marvel setting up Fisk to be more of a threat does align with what Echo producer Brad Winderbaum said when explaining that Kingpin will become a "Thanos of this street-level corner of the MCU." Fisk is a well-known major street-level threat in the Marvel comics. He is often going toe-to-toe with Peter Parker's Spider-Man and Matt Murdock's Daredevil. He's even appeared in other media, such as Sony's Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Insomniac's Spider-Man.

Following Jonathan Majors's exile as the MCU's main villain, having Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin step up could potentially be what Marvel needs. Not much is known about Daredevil: Born Again, but based on how the two characters are intrinsically tied, it is safe to assume Wilson Fisk will be in the show somehow. The show doesn't have a release date as of yet, but that's likely to change as production for Born Again moves forward.

For more Marvel content, be sure to check out our story detailing all of the loose plot threads currently in the MCU.