Marvel is going to kick off 2024 with a new project that is going to bring several firsts to the MCU as well as what appears to be a lot of blood.
Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for the upcoming Echo series on Disney Plus. This series was announced before we had even met the character of Maya in the Hawkeye series, so it has been in the works for quite some time.
The trailer shows that we will see more of her origin and how she came to be associated with Wilson Fisk – once again played by Vincent D’Onofrio – and what has happened since their confrontation at the end of the Hawkeye series.
The last we saw the two characters, Maya had learned that Kingpin had been behind the death of her father, and she was confronting him by holding him at gunpoint. The camera panned away and we heard a gunshot, but his fate was left unshown. It now appears that he survived the gunshot, but is seen wearing an eyepatch in the new trailer.
It also appears that we will see some of that barely controlled rage the character became so well-known for in the Daredevil series on Netflix.
Alaqua Cox will again be playing Maya-slash-Echo. Hawkeye was her first-ever acting job, and she is as surprised as anyone that it led to her own series. She told Variety at the premiere of Hawkeye, “I don’t know why they’re giving me this opportunity, but I’m just grateful. I’m excited for the support and being able to advocate for the Deaf community. We want to have that equality and get more people involved. I’m just so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve been given.”
Judging from the trailer, she will also be able to show off her real-life Native American roots. She was born and raised on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin in real life, and it appears in the trailer she may be heading to one in the story as well.
Disney Plus Firsts
Disney Plus is also going to use the Echo series to try out two new concepts for the streaming service. First and foremost, Echo will be rated TV-MA, the first Marvel series to receive the rating.
Judging from the blood we see in the trailer alone, it feels as though it will be justified.
Second, this will be the first Marvel series to debut all of its episodes on the same day, January 10th, 2024. This is a big gamble for Marvel, and Disney Plus in general. If this is a trial for a change in release patterns or a one-off situation is unknown at this time.
Echo’s Comic Origins
While the TV series is keeping some key points from the comics such as her being Native American and deaf, other points are changing.
First appearing in the comics in 1999, Maya saw Wilson Fisk kill her father when she was a child. As he lay dying, he placed his bloody hand on her face, and made his final request that Kingpin take her in and raise her as his own child.
Believed to be mentally disabled, Fisk sent her to a school for learning disabilities where it was discovered she was actually gifted and could replicate people’s actions. She eventually uses her photographic reflexes to also become a highly skilled acrobat and study martial arts.
As she grew older, Kingpin would use her to figure out Matt Murdock’s weakness, only to see the two of them fall in love.
When it comes time for her to go into action, she paints a white handprint on her face to honor her slain father. She goes on to fight Daredevil not knowing he’s Matt, and when she has him in position for a killing blow discovers who he is and refuses to do so.
She goes on to become a hero and even takes on the identity of Ronin from Hawkeye for a while.
If we will see her appear in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series remains to be seen. D’Onofrio said in November 2022 that the events of Echo would lead directly to the new Daredevil season, but with changes in the works for that project, we’ll have to wait and see if that continues to be the case.
