Echo Breathes New Life Into The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Making her debut in Hawkeye, Maya Lopez is painted as a ruthless villain. This behavior in New York City catches up with her as she tries to return to her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace the power of family and community in Echo.
Recently, being a “Marvel actor” hasn’t held as much weight as it once did. Series and films are popping up every month, making the once elusive title lose a bit of its shine. The sheer amount of talent and occasionally the quality hasn’t upheld the original Marvel standard. In a time where Marvel seems to be losing some of its magic, Echo comes along to break that narrative. Alaqua Cox embodies what it means to be a Marvel superhero and really sets the tone for the future of the franchise.
Echo is the first series under the new Marvel Spotlight banner, which is supposed to bring more grounded and character driven stories to the screen, opposed to the larger MCU story. As a viewer, you don’t have to watch any other Marvel series or movies in order to comprehend the plot. Regardless of what Marvel says, as a stand alone series, it is a bit confusing at first. If you’re not deep into the connectedness of the MCU, some of the characters and scenes early in the show come a bit as a surprise. Aside from that, the narrative and storyline seems to be linear in diving into Maya’s past.
The five episode series is short, but doesn’t neglect the integral stories in supporting Maya Lopez’s backstory. Aside from the orphan trope often seen in superhero movies, this story is entirely original and feels fresh in the franchise. Alaqua Cox and her character Maya are deaf Native Americans with a prosthetic leg. This is the type of diversity and representation that critics have been asking from Marvel for years — and this time they did it right.
There are such great moments of education and representation for the Native American community. Instead of telling a story for them, Marvel included Native Americans not only in the portrayal of their community, but in the writing and production of it as well. It depicts their community in a realistic way of how they live in today's world, without losing the connection they have to their heritage.
Alaqua and Maya are deaf, which many assume would create a difficult obstacle in communication and fight sequences, but that was not the case. Directors Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie used sound, or the lack thereof to their advantage. They extracted breathing patterns during fight scenes when everything else was silent, in order to experience the narrative through Maya’s perception. This intentional use of audio just draws you into this world and allows the physicality of scenes to shine.
This is also Marvel’s first TV-MA rated show, taking on a darker and more adult tone. It’s gorier than most Marvel productions, and more similar to action movies than previous superhero work. It focuses on the brute strength and brilliance a superhero must possess, opposed to relying on special skills and abilities. It’s a story of sheer determination and discipline, making the outcomes feel earned instead of just given. Alaqua Cox is an incredible actor and should be greatly commended for her work on this series.
Overall, Echo breathes new life into the Marvel universe with its diversity and representation. They don’t force these aspects upon you, but rather let them naturally unfold as the story goes on. Alaqua Cox is absolutely incredible and serves as a new generation’s role model and superhero blueprint. It seems that with this series, Marvel might be getting its groove back and giving the people what they want.
