Marvel Studio’s “ECHO” bursts into the MCU to deliver a smaller-scale, brutal, and fierce character-driven story with big stakes while properly bringing Daredevil and Kingpin back into the fold.
With the chaotic multiverse stories that have happened, it’s nice to see how “ECHO” can ground the MCU street-level tale that focuses on Maya Lopez’s (Alaqua Cox) creating an empire fit for a queen after maiming Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) at the end of “Hawkeye.” The MA-rating is a first for the Disney+ series, which we last saw in the early days of the Marvel and Netflix collaboration. Also, Disney drops all five episodes at once, giving their subscribers a binge-style series to watch.
“ECHO” follows the titular character’s return to her hometown in Oklahoma, where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s organization. The first three episodes reveal a self-contained tale with low stakes, allowing audiences to understand who Maya Lopez is. She intends to build her own empire while tearing down the one made by her mentor and surrogate father, Kingpin. This anti-hero of self-discovery soars even if the pacing is somewhat choppy.
“ECHO” opens with how the Choctaw Nation emerged in present-day Oklahoma. A group of people inside a dark cave is walking up to a small pool of glistening water that emits light. It’s a mysterious force of energy that draws one woman to drink from it. As soon as she does, the cave starts to collapse, forcing everyone to put up their arms to hold it up, and as all seems lost, the light becomes blinding. As the light fades, the people are unharmed in an open field. There’s also a tiny red-crested cardinal that flies by, a bird that acts as a foreshadowing device. That takes us to the future, where we see a young Maya and her cousin – whom she calls her sister – Bonnie, spending time in a tent outside, while her father, William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon), is spending time his wife, Maya’s grandmother Chula (Tantoo Cardinal) and grandfather figure Skully (Grahame Greene).
While all seems happy and well, Chula sees a small Red-Crested Cardinal perch itself on a fence. And as an incoming storm forces Maya and Bonnie to come inside, Maya’s mom invites her to go to the store to buy some hot chocolate. But that trip becomes tragic as Maya’s mom discovers her truck’s breakline has been cut. She dies, and doctors are forced to amputate Maya’s leg. To make amends for what happened, William and Maya move out to New York, which isn’t far enough for Chula, who believes that William’s criminal connections took her daughter away from her.
From there, we see Maya breaking barriers as a deaf, indigenous, and amputee at a young age. The first episode has a dual purpose. One is to give us the exposition needed to understand Maya’s story, and the other is to properly bring other street-level Marvel characters like Daredevil and Kingpin into the fold. Unlike some of the other Disney+ MCU series, “ECHO” has a darker and grittier tone that echoes Netflix’s “Daredevil.” And that’s clear based on the incredible one-shot-style action sequence where Maya assists Kingpin’s men in a raid, which is then interrupted by Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Here, we see how she handles those who underestimate her and eventually gains the respect of Kingpin’s men. Her confrontation with Daredevil, a man without fear who takes out the Kingpin’s men single-handedly, proves to be a valuable experience from the fight, which will serve her well as the series progresses. So, as episode one spends its time acquainting its audience with who Maya is and table setting the series by introducing new characters and her goal, episodes two and three advance her story with a thrilling heist and brutal escape from the skating rink while also leaving you on a cliffhanger. Again, we only saw the first three episodes.
As “ECHO” is designed to be a self-contained story set within the MCU, it’s clear that the series isn’t distracted by any of the events of the multiverse saga. The show will also help establish Daredevil and Kingpin’s place within the MCU and offer us a look at the darker and more mature tones that the MCU can have. The story is told through the deaf, indigenous, and amputee lens, further giving this story layers, nuance, and complexity. So, even though the family drama resonates, it breaks barriers because it is told through the voices of underrepresented communities.
While Maya’s return home isn’t celebratory, it is her first step towards building an empire. She knows her return disrupts the peaceful tranquility the small town has known since she and her father left for New York City. Of course, returning home can open old wounds, especially since Chula and Bonnie are still there. Also, there is Henry “Black Crow” Lopez, Maya’s uncle and Willam’s brother, who owns a local skating rink and has connections to a Fisk Transportation corporation. So Maya has to keep a low profile to keep those who she wants to protect out of danger while also working on destroying the remnants of Kingpin’s empire that fester in her hometown. She will accomplish that by any means necessary, including going on a heist with her cousin, the well-intentioned Biscuits, to break into a freight car aboard a moving high-speed train.
Maya knew what kind of business the Kingpin was in and learned even more about his empire as she ascended in rank under his guidance. As such, it only makes sense for her to start building her own empire by returning home where he has certain connections, including her uncle, who manages one of the Kingpin’s transportation businesses. That also means if there is any trouble, it could threaten the lives of those she cares about.
And that’s what makes “ECHO” so intriguing. It’s a story of a prodigal daughter returning home to a place where she belongs but also has a tragic history. She is only in town for business – the kind that would land anyone in prison – and wants to protect those she cares about by staying away and not contacting them. Of course, it’s not going to be easy for Maya to keep a low profile, considering what she’s done to the Kingpin. Eventually, things get complicated for her when those in town want to collect on her bounty and hold her friends hostage, which forces her to stay in town longer than initially planned.
While episode one is pretty table setting, and two and three were slow-burning showcases of the title character, each episode’s opening honors the women of the Choctaw Nation by spotlighting their bravery, athleticism, and sense of justice. Not only does it look at Maya’s ancestry, but it also serves as a foreshadowing device for Maya to overcome many obstacles and turn her disabilities into abilities.
As a deaf, indigenous, amputee with a prosthetic leg, Cox’s Maya Lopez is an advocate for underrepresented communities. Not only can audiences of those underrepresented communities see themselves in character and watch the resonating stories unfold, but they can also see that their disabilities can be turned into abilities. So to see this anti-hero achieving the impossible despite her disabilities is inspiring. And that comes to light in many of the scenes requiring to push Cox’s physicality.
One of those scenes that underscores Maya’s strengths and skills is in episode two’s train heist. We see her fearlessly leap from one train car to the next as she sets her sights on one owned by the Kingpin. Her situational awareness allows her to move stealthily to avoid the attention of Kingpin’s men guarding the car. Her ingenuity will enable her to break into that exact car with tools that Biscuits purchased at Skully’s pawn shop. She then plants a device inside one of the car’s shipping crates for Kingpin’s men so that they receive an explosive surprise when it arrives at its intended destination. At the same time, we get to see how vulnerable she can be when he prosthetic leg gets caught in one of the train car’s coupling systems. Of course, the setback is a means to add to the drama of trying to escape a moving train without being noticed, and how she does it ties directly back to the episode’s cold opening.
Episode three finds Maya in trouble as the Kingpin’s men visit her hometown and hold Henry and Bonnie hostage. The episode has a bit of John Wick edge to it in terms of its brutal action choreography. Maya fights their captors throughout the local skating rink, throwing them through walls or hurling skee balls at the faces. The sound design gives you a sense of what Maya experiences as a deaf person. However, you’ll be able to feel every blow that she delivers and receives. This is especially true when she is smashing skulls against walls or is being thrown onto a pinball machine. You don’t need to hear the walls crumbling or glass shattering because you can see how painful it is just by looking at Maya or her victim’s reactions.
“ECHO” is fine on its own. There’s no need to worry about how it connects to the MCU because the show itself isn’t concerned about any of that or trying to force its way into those stories. Instead, we get something that’s self-contained. However, the recapping can be a distraction. Sure, it wants to remind us of what happened while reintroducing Daredevil and Kingpin. Still, when those segments cut in between telling Maya’s story, it kills the pacing. That said, if this is Marvel Studios’ way of telling darker, edgier, and more mature stories within the MCU, I am all for it.
7/10
Echo is rated TV-MA and premieres on Disney+ January 9, 2024
