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The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next big superhero is also superhuman. She can’t shoot laser beams from her eyes, produce sonic booms with her mind, or chase villains across the multiverse. Instead, the hero is Maya Lopez/Echo, a Native American woman who rises to become boss of the New York street gang Tracksuit Mafia under the tutelage of crime lord Kingpin — all while being deaf and a prosthetic-wearing leg amputee.
Echo’s superpower? The human ability to adapt. Maya copes with her deafness by sharpening her observational skills — so much that she can watch a martial arts move and mimic it instantly, making her a lethal physical combatant.
While most superheroes boast arsenals of high-tech weapons, Maya’s skills are refreshingly analog. She beats Clint Barton in hand-to-hand combat in the Disney+ series Hawkeye where Echo is first introduced. Noticing that the Avenger relies on a hearing aid for his hearing loss, Maya tells him: “You rely too much on technology. You might find you’re better off without it.” The scene ends with Maya crushing Hawkeye’s hearing aid under her boots.
Behind Maya Lopez’s fierce facade, she is crushingly human, consumed by grief after her father’s violent death, and obsessed with a vengeance. The Disney+ series is sure to show us a side of the MCU we’ve rarely seen up to this point. As we discover more of the street-level heroes, Echo will be an introduction to a new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here is everything we know about Echo.
Is There a Trailer for Echo?
Marvel Studios unveiled an Echo trailer at the D23 Expo last September 2022, but it has yet to release it to the public. The exclusive footage showcases Echo’s tremendous fighting skills, a cast of Native Americans, and the return of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), who is wearing an eyepatch. Viewers of the Hawkeye series would recall Maya shooting Kingpin offscreen during the final episode after learning that Kingpin had tricked Hawkeye into killing her father.
The first official image released by Marvel shows Echo (Alaqua Cox) looking beaten but determined in the back of a forklift as if she’s just survived a battle and contemplating the next one. The photo reveals Cox’s prosthetic right leg, making her even more badass than her bodily armored, heavily weaponized fellow superheroes.
What Is Echo About?
Marvel’s official synopsis reads:
Streaming exclusively on Disney, the origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward.
When And Where Will Echo Be Released?
Echo was scheduled to release in 2023, but reports suggest that the series will be delayed to 2024. We’ll have to wait and see what the official word is from Disney and Marvel Studios, but there is no confirmed release date. There are still plenty of Marvel releases for 2023. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have already hit theaters, while The Marvels, Secret Invasion, and Loki Season 2 have yet to be released.
Who Are the Cast of Echo?
Alaqua Cox, who grew up on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, plays Maya Lopez/Echo in the Hawkeye spin-off series. As a deaf Native American and leg amputee who has never acted before (except for a stint in a high school play), her breakthrough casting and unforgettable performance in Hawkeye were widely applauded, igniting enthusiasm for her trailblazing lead role in the Echo series.
Charlie Cox returns as the blind lawyer/superhero Matt Murdock/Daredevil, who debuted in Netflix’s hugely popular three-season series and was last seen in cameos in MCU’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Daredevil and Echo have a romantic relationship in Marvel Comics.
Vincent D’Onofrio reprises his role as crime lord Wilson Fisk/Kingpin — the surrogate uncle of Maya whom she shoots in the final moments of Hawkeye after she discovers that he caused her father’s death. There’s plenty of bad blood between Kingpin and his former protégé, a grudge match that will follow Maya from New York to her indigenous roots in Oklahoma.
Zahn McClarnon (Reservation Dogs) also reprises his role from Hawkeye as William Lopez, the dearly beloved father of Maya, who is also a Kingpin associate and former leader of the Tracksuit Mafia. When a young Maya witnesses Lopez’s death at the hands of Ronin (Hawkeye’s past alter-ego), she becomes obsessed with revenge, only to find out that her “uncle” Fisk ordered the kill.
Reservation Dogs star and writer Devery Jacobs plays Julie, a member of Maya’s indigenous family and community. Jacobs is memorable as Elora Danan Postoak in the critically acclaimed Reservation Dogs, which was created by Sterlin Harjo and MCU veteran Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love & Thunder).
Rounding out the cast are Chaske Spencer (Wild Indian, The English), who played Jace Montero in Netflix’s Jessica Jones; Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon, Stumptown), a Canadian actor of Cree and Métis heritage; Cody Lightning (Smoke Signals) also of Cree heritage; Graham Greene, the Academy Award-nominated indigenous Canadian actor known for his roles in Dances With Wolves and The Green Mile.
Who Are the Creatives Behind Echo?
The series is directed by Sydney Freeland (Reservation Dogs) and Catriona McKenzie (The Walking Dead).
Executive producers include Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre, and Jason Gavin. Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King, and Jennifer Booth are co-executive producers.
When we spoke to Executive producer Stephen Broussard, he described the series as:
I don’t want to say too much because there’s not a whole lot out there in the world, but it feels very grounded, it feels very spiritual in ways that feel fresh for us. Alaqua as the lead is incredibly compelling. I’m sort of hard-pressed to think of something that it feels like outside in the broader realm of the MCU, let alone within what we’ve done here. So stay tuned on that really cool stuff.
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