Echo (NC16)

Disney+
3 stars

Maya Lopez was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) via the television series Hawkeye (2021) about the bow-wielding Avenger. While the character’s on-screen time in the Jeremy Renner-led show was brief, she made a big impact by offing big bad boss Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Newcomer Alaqua Cox reprises the role in Echo, and gets to shine in this vehicle that explores her origins and Native American ancestry.

The story is set after the events of Hawkeye, with Maya fleeing from New York City after shooting Kingpin in the head.

Here are some reasons to binge on the five-episode miniseries that is streaming on Disney+.

1. Queenpin

To have Cox carry Echo was a gamble. After all, the only acting she had done was in a couple of Hawkeye episodes.

Also, would viewers be interested in a Native American protagonist who is deaf and an amputee? Thankfully, the 26-year-old actress – a real-life deaf amputee – is capable of doing the heavy lifting.

Maya’s origin story is quickly spelt out in the first 28 minutes of the first episode, and there is quite a lot of information to digest.

Audiences see how a young, deaf Maya loses her mother in a car accident, which results in her becoming an amputee. Along with her father, she is subsequently disowned by their family.

Settling in New York City, the child is taken under Kingpin’s wing, where she grows up to become a lethal killing machine who can crush a man’s spine without breaking a sweat.

Despite knowing there is a bounty on her head after her attack on Kingpin, Maya in the present day wants to end the ruthless crime lord’s empire and install herself on the throne as the new “Queenpin”.

There are only a few moments when Cox’s inexperience is evident, and she is wonderfully supported by co-stars such as D’Onofrio and Chaske Spencer, who plays her uncle Henry.

2. Uncharted territory

Echo launches Marvel’s new Spotlight series, a collection of stories which do not require prior knowledge of the MCU. It also serves as a standalone story in the complex MCU tapestry.

Echo is also the first Marvel show to feature Native Americans, and the story is driven by the mythology behind the Choctaw culture, which still exists in Oklahoma.

Marvel gets extra points for championing female Choctaw fighters. In a flashback scene, one of Maya’s ancestors is told that females were not allowed to join in the battle as “women are life-givers, while men are life-takers”. Naturally, the said ancestor defied the rules and became a worthy warrior.

And, as our heroine is deaf, American Sign Language is a prominent feature. At times, this form of communication gives Maya and her friends an advantage over her enemies.

Echo is kept short and snappy at five episodes, and Maya’s chapter can be closed as it is. However, given that her newfound Choctaw powers are only the tip of the iceberg, Echo has the potential to take the MCU down a different path.

3. Grittier action

Echo carries a higher NC16 rating because of its violence. Though the action scenes are grittier and bloodier, they still pale in comparison to those of Marvel’s Daredevil series, the crime-fighting drama starring Charlie Cox as the titular hero, that was released by Netflix from 2015 to 2018.

Cox’s Daredevil makes a brief appearance in Echo, where he takes on Maya in a somewhat brutal fight.

The pacing is inconsistent and character development could have been better, but the show thrives when the action kicks in.

A fight sequence set in a roller skating rink is well-choreographed. Cox brings much energy to it, and is truly commendable for throwing herself into these moments.