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Marvel has the best street-level roster of the major comic brands. Daredevil, Punisher, Moon Knight, Black Cat, Spider-Man (sometimes,) and other friendly neighborhood heroes keep their city safe. The strength of the lower-scale superhero is their grounded presentation. That virtue makes them endlessly fascinating, even as other characters fight alien armies for the fate of the universe. It also makes them perfect for Marvel’s TV efforts, and the MCU proves that every time.
Marvel Used to Stay on the Street-Level
I think we can all agree the Netflix era was the best time for Marvel on TV. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, and Luke Cage stand head and shoulders above the Disney+ offerings. Iron Fist and The Defenders don’t, but they’re still better than Secret Invasion. People want those shows back for countless reasons. They were the most mature, adult-oriented outings in the franchise. Shockingly, the series demonstrated sophistication without falling into gross-out humor or needless gore. Each dealt with social issues that rang true to the lives of their audience. The early Marvel shows followed street-level heroes through brutal scenarios. Their formats supported the medium more than any cosmic exploration. The success of those shows came from their formats, subjects, and execution. The secret isn’t in their scale, but it’s an excellent way to keep things grounded.
The Defenders are a street-level counterpart to The Avengers. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the gang take on threats that could end the world. Daredevil couldn’t punch his way through Thanos. The solo movies following individual Avengers shifted from personal quests to globe-trotting journeys, then again into galaxy-spanning epics. A narrative’s scale can make moral or emotional problems feel trivial. The fate of all living things is on the line here, so we don’t have time to deal with your relationship with your dad. Conversely, street-level heroes keep things imminently personal. A lawyer, a private eye, an ex-con, and a billionaire kung fu master walk out into the streets of their home city to keep their neighbors safe. That’s inherently more relatable and emotionally real than donning a robot suit to fight an all-powerful alien.
Marvel Spotlight Could Be a Return to Form
Next year, Marvel will launch the Marvel Spotlight brand. The pitch suggests it will accompany projects that aren’t related to the otherwise ubiquitous multiverse. Instead of doing “homework” to understand the latest feature, Spotlight promises standalone stories. The first Spotlight project is Echo, which counterintuitively struggles to fit most stated mandates. It’s a spin-off of Hawkeye selling itself primarily on love for a character from Daredevil. However, while it isn’t disconnected from the larger franchise, it is distinct in tone and presentation. Echo is a martial artist adopted by Kingpin. Her life is a mess of violence in a world of organized crime. The trailer implies a grim and gritty tone with much more violence than most Marvel TV shows. I think they’re deliberately distancing themselves from their Disney+ offering. Instead of making that clear by adopting new characters, they’re doing it by returning to the glory days.
Marvel is returning to the gritty street-level shows that thrilled fans half a decade ago. The most important shift here must be one of purpose. People are sick of creative and narrative choices made in service of the multiverse. Moving down to the streets ensures that most choices can’t affect a larger scale. Echo has to be about what it claims to be. It has to be the tale of a Native girl struggling to reconnect to her heritage while coming to terms with her past. It can’t also be about introducing three new heroes or old favorites returning to awkward applause breaks. I’m not confident, but the street-level setting gives me some hope.
Marvel has created some gems in its current TV format. WandaVision and Loki were excellent explorations of their characters. Wanda’s deep dive into addiction and the fear of god might be the most personal story in the MCU so far. Moving to street level doesn’t guarantee quality, but it does create a distinct identity for Marvel’s TV offerings and keep the stories grounded. If they want a new path forward, Marvel has to return to their roots. Maybe all anyone ever wanted was compelling characters fighting crime.
