Echo (2024-Present)

*Premise spoilers, which include a couple spoilers from Hawkeye.*

I enjoyed meeting Maya Lopez in Hawkeye and looked forward to seeing her in her own series. On the whole, I liked Echo—this whole cast of characters is nicely introduced and work well together, with Maya at the center.

On Hawkeye, Maya was one of Wilson Fisk’s trusted lieutenants, until she discovered that Fisk ordered her father’s death. In retaliation, she shot him. Now, five months later, she’s still intent on blowing up his empire. Her single-minded mission takes her back to her hometown in Oklahoma—Maya hasn’t been home in 20 years, and despite her efforts to get in and get out without her family knowing, she’s forced to confront her past. It’s time to decide what means more: her family or her revenge.

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of Marvel heroes come from self-interested beginnings, including some who’ve started as outright villains or who do horrible things for self-proclaimed righteous reasons. But I think Echo is the first time we’ve gone into an MCU property where the title character is still firmly in an antagonist role at the start of the story. While Maya is definitely aligned against Fisk, she’s less interested in dismantling his criminal enterprise than in taking it over—with Kingpin out of the way, she thinks it’s time for a queen. When she seeks help from her Uncle Henry, knowing he has too has a criminal background, he tells her he won’t be part of bring a war to the people he loves, but Maya is too single-minded on her own goals to pay attention.

But even if Maya has further to go in her growth than a lot of MCU heroes, it’s compelling to watch her get there. She’s a young woman who’s been carrying around a lot of hurt and anger for a long time, and finding a way to let go of all that isn’t easy. Back in Oklahoma, she’s surrounded by reminders of a life she left behind, avoiding some family members so she won’t have to deal with their hurt feelings while avoiding others because she’s still hurt from being cast out in the past. But the more she’s able to let them back in, either willingly or being forced together through outside circumstances, the closer she comes to discovering her real potential.

As Maya, Alaqua Cox is a strong lead—her action scenes are killer, and she shows us the vulnerability behind Maya’s toughness. She’s the MCU’s first Indigenous and first Deaf lead, not to mention the first amputee played by an actual amputee. I think the representation is mostly well done, with the different parts of Maya’s identity contributing to the overall picture of who she is without any single one defining her. Lots of great Indigenous actors in this show, including several familiar faces from Reservation Dogs: Devery Jacobs, Graham Greene, and Zahn McClarnon (Big!!) all make appearances. Of course, we also get Vincent D’Onofrio back as Wilson Fisk, along with a brief but cool cameo from Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock.

Warnings

Violence (stronger than the usual MCU fare—more in line with Daredevil,) language, drinking, and thematic elements (including ableism.)