Marvel's Echo Makes The Character's Name Far More Meaningful Than The Comics
This post contains spoilers for the Marvel Studios series "Echo."
Marvel's "Echo" has an uphill battle to gain audience attention. Not only is the Disney+ series from Marvel Studios arriving at a time when superhero fatigue appears to be high, but it's giving us a limited series about a secondary villain from the "Hawkeye" series, and on the surface, not one that demands the same attention as a character like Loki. However, audiences would do well to take a chance on the series, because where "Echo" succeeds is in making the character of Maya Lopez far more rich than her comic book origins.
Aside from the prominence of her Choctaw heritage, which is an integral part of the five-episode series that just debuted on Disney+, the fact that Maya Lopez is a deaf amputee makes her an even more compelling character who stands out from the usual superhero fare, especially since she's a recovering villain. In fact, even the name "Echo" is given significantly more weight than her Marvel Comics origins, thanks to the spotlight on the people of the Choctaw Nation and their history.
Echo's comic book origins
In Marvel Comics, the name Echo comes from the fact that Maya Lopez has photographic reflexes that give her the ability to perfectly copy any movement after witnessing it. These powers are not unlike that of Taskmaster, who was introduced in "Black Widow" not too long ago and will be returning in the upcoming "Thunderbolts" movie. This ability is enhanced by the fact that Maya is deaf, allowing her to hone in on more specific details of other people's skills and making it easy for her to perfect a variety of abilities.
After Kingpin deceives Maya into thinking Daredevil murdered her father, she watches a variety of martial arts movies and observes the fighting styles of Daredevil's adversaries like Bullseye in order to become a deadly fighter who can take her revenge on The Man Without Fear. It's these abilities that provide the significance of her superhero name, but in Marvel's "Echo" series, the meaning of both her name and abilities comes from a much deeper place.
The strength of the Choctaw Nation
Though we've yet to see Maya Lopez exhibit the same kind of photographic reflexes that she does in the comics, it's clear she's still a more than capable fighter. She worked as one of Kingpin's primary operatives, and as we see in an awesome one take action sequence in the first episode of "Echo," she can hold her own against Charlie Cox as Daredevil. However, as "Echo" progresses, Maya begins having visions of ancestors from the history of the Choctaw people, and in one particular moment of peril during a train heist in the second episode, spirals appear on the back of her hands and they begin to glow orange, creating a surge of strength that gets her out of trouble.
These visions are prominently featured in the opening of the first three episodes of "Echo," and each one introduces us to Maya's ancestors. The first episode tells the story of Chafa, the first Choctaw who led her people out of the mystical cave in which they were created and showed ferocity in the face of fear. The second episode focuses on Lowak, a strategic warrior who helps win an intense match of the Choctaw sport of stickball. And the third episode highlights Tuklo, a cunning young woman who strives to be a warrior among men who would otherwise dismiss her.
It's these ancestors that now give Echo her namesake. As we see in the finale of "Echo," these visions come to Maya because the skills and superhuman abilities of strength from her ancestors echo through her from the past. And there's one final ancestor who gives Maya another ability: her mother, Taloa, who gives her the power to heal from a place of love. The strength and resilience of all these women flows through Maya, and she's even able to channel those powers into her female relatives, which is how her grandmother, Chula, and cousin, Bonnie, are able to fight off Kingpin's henchman in a pinch.
Trying to heal Kingpin
Marvel's "Echo" shining a spotlight on the people of the Choctaw Nation made it possible for Maya Lopez to become an even richer character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By using the history of the Choctaw people and their culture as the source of Maya's newfound abilities, all while bringing her closer to her family, "Echo" has turned the comic book character into so much more than she was on the page. Maya's powers aren't just some manifestation of superhuman abilities for the sake of superhero antics; they offer a way for her to deal with the trauma from her family, both biological and adopted, and the connection she feels with her ancestors allows her to work through the pain she's been holding onto for years, first from her mother's death at a young age and then from the more recent death of her father at the hands of Kingpin.
But before "Echo" is through, the show also gives Maya one more moment in her emotional journey. Through her abilities, she's able to see into the mind of Kingpin, specifically the moment that holds the most painful part of his life, when he was forced to beat his father to death with a hammer in order to save his abused mother. Maya attempts to help Kingpin work through that pain by not picking up the hammer in his memories and moving on from the rage he's let define most of his life. Does it do any good? We'll find out soon enough.
All episodes of Marvel's "Echo" are streaming on Disney+ now.