The new Echo series follows the story of Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez. She was first introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, harkening back to her stunning debut in the 2021 Marvel Studios/Disney+ series, Hawkeye. Her fate left her face to face with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, as she gets the satisfying revenge she craves after learning the truth about her father’s death. However, she also put herself on a hit list because she is dubbed “the kingkiller.”
This five-episode series begins with a short prelude to Maya’s story. It shows how the Choctaw Nation originated as beings of a different realm, but were sent down to Earth at some point in time. This scene becomes a recurring one as Maya and her other ancestors have visions of this moment since it shows the first Choctaw leader, Chafa.
Immediately after, it shows a touching moment of young Maya playing with her cousin Bonnie as her family wraps up hanging out at the family house. The scene leads into a reveal showing how Maya’s mom died and how her and her dad ended up in New York City—eventually entangling their lives with Fisk.
Afterwards, there is a quick montage of her key moments from Hawkeye but told in more detail from her perspective rather than Clint Barton or Kate Bishop. Eventually, it cuts to five months after Maya shot Fisk in the head, and now she returns to her childhood town of Tamaha, Oklahoma—on the run and strategizing her next moves. The intro credits are just as hype as the show, they give off vibes like a James Bond film opening titles.
“While Echo primarily focuses on Maya’s past and journey, other characters she is connected with are more fleshed out too.”
Her reconnection and the show’s highlight of Tamaha, Oklahoma’s Choctaw Nation is eye-opening and encapsulates the heart of small towns similar to Tamaha around the world. The tiny details of how word travels fast in small towns, and how you can reach everyone on the town radio system is very relatable from personal experience. But the most distinguishing part of this town is how much Aboriginal people represent the population, which is quite enamouring and refreshing for the MCU—seeing an almost all-Native American cast.
The MCU has been expanding its horizons with diverse, enriching stories that represent many underrepresented populations around the world. This tale is one of them, and really held a lot of weight on its own—regardless of it being under the Marvel Comics/Studios banner. It has a great Indigenous story and viewpoint told by Indigenous creators and writers alike. The Predator film Prey was probably the most recent successful story on the same level as Echo.
While Echo primarily focuses on Maya’s past and journey, other characters she is connected with are more fleshed out too. Charlie Cox’s Daredevil makes a small appearance, showing him and Maya have shared a fight against one another before. It could be a setup for an exciting crossover in Daredevil: Born Again. Their fight together was relatively brief, so I hope they have more altercations in his show.
Fisk is definitely the second person to be expanded on in Echo. Maya’s ties to him are as close as family, and it emphasizes her reluctance to deal with someone as persuasive and menacing as Kingpin. Throughout the flashbacks and his return from the dead, the show does a fairly good job showing how powerful he is, and how much control he has over the New York City police.
The rest of Maya’s family is also fleshed out fairly well. Some storylines are a bit more interesting than others. The amazing Canadian-Aboriginal powerhouses Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Graham Greene (The Last of Us) reunite on-screen as the divorced grandparents of Maya. Shoutout to Canadian talent! Every time they are in a scene is either really funny or very heartwarming—may have been one or two eye-watering moments.
The last key member of the family who is very connected to Maya and Fisk is Uncle Henry, played by Chaske Spencer (The English). He is someone who is still tied to Kingpin’s criminal organization, but runs a part of the business through Tamaha inconspicuously. He and Maya have some minor conflicts, but he also has some character development that is wholesome.
Surprisingly, Echo shows an abundance of scenes of how Maya is resourceful as well! The first episode alone shows off her Mission Impossible-style crafting, and her ability to leap off bridges like she is Ethan Hunt. Throughout the series, the crafting of Maya and others is almost video game-esque. It is like when players get an upgrade and have to visit the right NPC to get it, and they have to wait a certain amount of time. The moment Maya gets certain upgrades, it is reminiscent of the build up to Sam receiving his new Captain America suit in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
“The tight five-episode structure of Echo delivers many punches and kicks to both the heart and mind.”
The cinematography of Echo is spectacular with the way it captures the various locations around Tamaha—particularly the roller rink. The classic, retro colours were funky and trippy in the scenes there. One of the standout fights happened there, which took some Zach Snyder-like shots of shooting wides, slight slow motion, and zooming in and out of the action. When Maya rolls into town on her motorcycle, there are some great b-roll highlights of the town too like the graffiti wall.
The third episode titled “Tuklo” has the most standout filming techniques as well. It displays the ability to shoot in one of the oldest film styles where there is only text and picture, along with some sounds and background score. Film buffs who have seen a lot of Charlie Chaplin’s silent films shot in 35 mm black and white film will know it well. This episode expressed the evolution of film, as it showed the progression of the episode transitioning back into the present with Maya.
The show does a truly important job spotlighting that both Alaqua Cox and Maya may have their physical disadvantages being an amputee and having a disability, but they are still badass and can do amazing things. Cox’s Echo is the second deaf hero to join the MCU, as Lauren Ridloff starred as Makkari in Eternals. Despite all their disabilities, these super women continue to shine in their own unique ways whenever they are on-screen.
The tight five-episode structure of Echo delivers many punches and kicks to both the heart and mind. The story is written fairly well, offering a lot of complex relationships and vantage points on various issues. It lands a bit flat near the end, but leaves audiences with enough open story branches to be explored either in a second season or in Daredevil: Born Again. This being Cox’s first big project with her in the spotlight is a major feat, as she represents so many communities—embodying what it means to be a real superhero both on-screen and off!
