Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye has introduced a brand new character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans have been curious about her since her first appearance. Towards the end of the second episode, Alaqua Cox's Maya Lopez, a.k.a Echo, appears and has had a more prominent role in the series thereon. A new featurette released by Marvel Studios shows Cox’s journey to becoming the character.
In the Hawkeye featurette, Cox, who is deaf just like her character Lopez, reveals that she never dreamt of becoming an actor. But, when Marvel sent a callout for auditions for the role, Cox’s friends encouraged her to go for it. The studio needed someone “female, Native, athletic, and smart,” states Cox in the exclusive featurette. She decided to give it her best and was cast as Lopez, and "the rest is history."
As someone who is just starting off in her career, Cox reveals that she was very nervous going on set. “I didn’t know what to do,” she states. But, her performance as Lopez has been appreciated by both fans and critics since her first appearance on Hawkeye. “I feel very proud and I’m excited to show everyone that for people with disabilities, anything is possible,” Cox proudly declares.
Hawkeye executive producer Trinh Tran reveals that they looked “worldwide” for the perfect actor to portray Lopez, simply because they “wanted to stay true to the character in the comics.” Even though she is new to the field of acting, directors Bert and Bertie reveal that “she’s got this star quality to her.” The crew seemed to have been enamored by her performance in front of the camera when they saw her on the Hawkeye set for the first time.
The directors believe that as the latest character to join the MCU, Lopez is “an amazing character to have been set up,” and are convinced that Cox was the right choice to portray her. Hawkeye lead Jeremy Renner, who plays Clint Barton and is potentially Lopez’s biggest nemesis at the moment, refers to Cox as a natural. “She’s really just wide-open emotionally, and was able to contribute a lot,” he is heard saying.
It seems like Lopez is here to stay in the MCU and Hawkeye is just the beginning of this interesting character. A spin-off series titled Echo has already been confirmed and Cox will return to reprise her role as Lopez. It will be based on Lopez’s journey and will also premiere on Disney Plus as part of Phase 4 of the MCU. It would be interesting to see how Lopez and Barton’s relationship will progress and whether they will be able to resolve their issues before the series ends.
Hawkeye is streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Marvel Entertainment/YouTube