Native American actress Alaqua Cox will be reprising her role as Maya Lopez some time in the near future, coming to the small screen in what is presumed to be a six-episode series, titled Echo. The show takes place after the events of Hawkeye where Cox made her first ever acting debut, and will follow Maya on her journey after leaving the Tracksuit Mafia.
As always, Marvel keeps the details of their projects pretty heavily under wraps, but hopefully, the closer it gets to the premiere of Echo, the more information will start to surface. Here’s everything to know about the upcoming Echo series on Disney Plus, so far.
The Cast
The MCU has been diversifying its cast and characters in recent years, and Echo will be no different. Alaqua Cox will be playing the series protagonist Maya Lopez, alternatively referred to as Echo, like previously stated. Alongside Cox is a number of talented Indigenous actors, who will be joining her in the series.
Reservation Dogs actress Devery Jacobs line-up, and will be playing a character that simply goes by the name of Julie for the time being. Julie is said to be a strong-willed and resilient character, suggesting that perhaps she’ll have a rather complex background of her own.
Zahn McClarnon is said to be coming back as Maya’s father, William, who he played in the Hawkeye series. Twilight actors Graham Greene and Chaske Spencer, Smoke Signals actress Tantoo Cardinal and Four Sheets to the Wind star Cody Lightning are all supposed to play a part in the series, as well, although details about their characters have yet to be revealed.
Fans are speculating that Vincent D'Onofrio will return as Wilson Fisk, with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, given that these characters both have a connection to Echo in the Marvel Comics. There hasn’t been any official mentions of them playing a role in the series, but given that Marvel likes to keep secrets, the return of Kingpin and Daredevil isn’t impossible.
The Crew
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Working behind the scenes to bring Echo to life is a long list of talented writers, including lead writer Marion Dayre, the mastermind that created the highly anticipated show. Ken Kristensen and Dara Resnik are also part of the writing room, and have previously written episodes for Netflix’s The Punisher and Daredevil, respectively. Reservation Dogs writer Bobby Wilson and Supernatural writer Shoshannah Stern have joined the team, as well.
Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie will each be directing episodes of the series, with Etan Cohen and Emily Bowen-Cohen serving as both writers and executive producers.
Filming and Release Date
Production on Echo has already started, according to a post by Alaqua Cox on her Instagram. The post was uploaded to her story on April 20th, and said filming was set to start the day after, meaning that work officially began on April 21st of this year. Marvel Studios also tweeted out an image from the series, depicting Cox in a brand-new Echo outfit, and announced the show would premiere some time in 2023.
The MCU has quite an impressive roster for 2023. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is scheduled for release in February, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set for May, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 will come out in June, The Marvels in July, and another unnamed project is said to premier in early November. Given how packed their schedule is for next year, Echo will likely come to Disney Plus in January, or between August and October, of 2023.
The Storyline
Echo picks up after the events of Hawkeye and will detail Maya’s journey towards heroism, now that she’s abandoned Wilson Fisk for having her father killed, and left the Tracksuit Mafia behind. The casting of Jacobs as newcomer Julie implies that Maya will have at least one ally as she starts her new life away from her dark past. The suspected return of McClarnon as William Lopez also hints at there being flashbacks to Maya’s past throughout the series, since Hawkeye confirmed that Clint Barton killed William years ago, when he went rogue as Ronin between the events of Infinity War and Endgame.
The official synopsis for the series states that Maya will run into some trouble, because of her previous affiliations to Kingpin and the Tracksuits. It additionally states that she’ll be reconnecting with her Native American heritage and her hometown community, in order to move past the things she did while living in New York. Other than that, the details surrounding the series are being kept under lock and key, so fans will likely have to wait until the premiere to figure out where Marvel plans to take Maya next.