Disney+ announce a premiere date and release a trailer for their upcoming miniseries Echo.
Echo is a spin-off of the Marvel series, Hawkeye (led by Jeremy Renner who plays the titular character). It centres around Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), now known as Echo whose a deaf former commander of the Tracksuit Mafia. Echo has to return to her hometown in Oklahoma in order to connect with her past and learn more about her Native American roots.
In the trailer, Maya is trying to accept her past. As part of this, she witnesses attacks from her uncle Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), who is responsible for her father’s death. The trailer also features Daredevil (Charlie Cox), who destroys a room filled with criminals.
The role of Maya marks Alaqua Cox’s first professional acting role. Introducing Maya in Hawkeye, Echo will see a continuation of a character that soon became a fan favourite. Vincent D’Onofrio (known for Men in Black and Jurassic World) will return to his role as Wilson Fisk, while Charlie Cox (The Theory of Everything, Boardwalk Empire) will return to his role as Daredevil, most recently featuring in another Disney+ series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Echo is directed by Catriona McKenzie and Sydney Freeland. Speaking to Collider, Freeland stressed the importance of representation in the show.
“We had to have Native representation. That was a must. We had to have deaf representation. That was a must. So, it really started within our writers’ room,” she said. “When I came on board, we tried to keep that energy going. We had Native people behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Another big thing that was important to us was our partnership with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.”
The show will premiere under Marvel’s new Marvel Spotlight banner, which will be used for standalone content, rather than work that connects to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming at Marvel Studios said: “Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity. [..] Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”
Echo was initially due to be released on 29 November, but has faced delays due to shifts in Disney’s streaming strategy. Though, you won’t have to wait much longer for this new miniseries, as all episodes of Echo will be available to stream on Disney+ from 10 January.
Words by Ellen Leslie
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