New superhero series “Echo”
Marvel is getting tougher
Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in “Echo.”
© Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios/Disney+
With the streaming series “Echo,” Marvel Studios is breaking new ground in several ways. Everything about the new show on Disney+.
On January 10th, the great Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with a new streaming series on Disney+. But in “Echo”, a spin-off to the Marvel show “Hawkeye” with Jeremy Renner (53), things are different than usual in the MCU. All five episodes of the mini-series appear in one fell swoop Streaming service, which is a first for Marvel Studios TV productions.
In addition, “Echo” will also be significantly more brutal than usual from the MCU. For the first time, Alaqua Cox (26), a deaf, indigenous actress, is taking on the lead role in a Marvel project, and viewers should not necessarily have watched the previous Marvel releases in order to be able to follow the plot of “Echo”.
That’s what “Echo” is about
In “Echo,” protagonist Maya Lopez (Cox) returns from New York City to her hometown. There she will not only have to deal with traumatic events from her past and find her indigenous roots again, but will also find a new perspective on the meaning of family and community.
Director Sydney Freeland (“Reservation Dogs”, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”) explained in advance to “Variety”, that the new MCU series will revolve around a “seismic event” in the history of Lopez’s family and the resulting trauma. The protagonist is “very vulnerable” and carries “pent-up emotions” such as anger.
“Echo” also takes place in a small town and is said to be more grounded than previous Marvel productions. In contrast to major Marvel stories such as the “Avengers” films or the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy, “the fate of the universe is not at stake” here, but rather “the fate of the family”.
The actors and their roles
Numerous trailers for the upcoming show already show that the great “Daredevil” antagonist Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio, 64) will play an important role in “Echo”.
As a reminder, in the final moments of “Hawkeye,” Alaqua Cox appeared to shoot the villainous underworld boss after realizing that he was involved in the death of her beloved father, William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon, 57). But Kingpin survived and wears an eye patch after being shot in the head.
The popular “Daredevil” protagonist Charlie Cox (41) will also return to the camera in “Echo” as blind lawyer and superhero Matt Murdock, better known as Daredevil. “Echo” is the third MCU appearance of the former Netflix Marvel hero – after the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the streaming series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”. Cox will also return to the Disney+ streaming service with the series revival “Daredevil: Born Again” at the end of this year or in 2025.
The indigenous actors Graham Greene (“Dances with Wolves”, 71), Devery Jacobs (“Reservation Dogs”, 30), Tantoo Cardinal (“Killers of the Flower Moon”, 73), and Cody Lightning (“Hey , Viktor!”, 37) complete the cast of “Echo”.
Things worth knowing about the new Marvel series
For long-time Marvel fans, there are a whole range of new features in “Echo”. The series will appear under the newly launched so-called Spotlight banner. According to those responsible at Marvel, this means that, analogous to the Marvel comics, little prior knowledge from the previous 33 movies and now eight live-action series on Disney+ is necessary to enjoy “Echo” – certainly an advantage for MCU newcomers and occasional spectators.
A headshot in the trailer is shocking
“Echo” is also the most brutal MCU show to date. That was already the case in the first trailer for the new series a shocking headshot can be seen directly in the picture. In the USA, “Echo” has therefore been given the age rating “TV-MA”, which in Germany can be roughly compared to a rating of 17 years and over. The show about the deaf superheroine, who is also an excellent martial arts fighter, is also reminiscent of the discontinued Marvel series on Netflix such as “Daredevil” or “The Punisher”.
As authentic a representation as possible
Great efforts have also been made by everyone involved in “Echo” to authentically incorporate both the indigenous culture of the Choctaw people, from which the fictional character Alaqua Cox comes, and the sign language ASL into the new Marvel show.
This is what director Freeland reported to “Yahoo News”that a whole series of “deaf authors and deaf consultants” were involved in the project behind the scenes.
In order to portray the indigenous culture of the Choctaw as authentically as possible and bring it into the MCU, director Freeland, who herself grew up on a Navajo reservation, also visited a Choctaw tribe with her team and invited real dancers from this indigenous people to filming in order to recreate their costumes as accurately as possible.