Entertainment
Disney+’s $40M Action Fantasy Series Is Aging Like Fine Wine
To say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has faced difficulties with its output on Disney+ would be putting it mildly. Although there was an admirable attempt to ensure that the shows put out on streaming were of the same quality as the films released in theaters, Disney+ ended up releasing multiple series that would have worked better as a more concise story on the big screen. The lack of enthusiasm for what Disney+ was doing has made it so the recent shows that have been most successful have been based on characters that have already been well-established, including Daredevil: Born Again and Agatha All Along. However, Echo was an impressively grounded and intimate MCU series that established itself as a proper introduction to a new side of the franchise. While it was given the responsibility of being tied to both Daredevil: Born Again and Hawkeye, Echo was unique in tone, proving to be very much its own thing.
The character of Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), known by her moniker “Echo,” had first been introduced in Hawkeye as the former leader of the vigilante task force known as the “Tracksuit Mafia.” While Maya had initially been seen as an antagonist, Echo reveals that she had suffered tragedies in her childhood, which allowed her to be exploited by Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). Returning Maya to her home in Tahoma, Oklahoma creates an exciting narrative opportunity, as Echo both explores its protagonist’s origin story and fleshes out the cultural environment in which she was raised. Echo isn’t just another spin-off designed to set up more adventures for Maya, but a thoughtful family drama that explores a completely different side of the Marvel universe.
‘Echo’ Is a Grounded, Character-Centric MCU Series
One of the issues that many of the MCU shows face is trying to create cinematic spectacle on the small screen, when in reality, a show should be able to take advantage of its medium. Echo is able to spend more time exploring the history of Choctaw culture, and not just in its modern conception. The showrunners worked alongside real Choctaw tribe leaders to recreate pivotal moments in their history and mythology, and drew a line between cultural practices and the supernatural elements of the MCU. This makes Maya a more intriguing character because it shows the responsibilities that she faced as the latest descendant in a legacy of strong leaders, who is faced with the responsibility of defending her people’s survival. It also allows the MCU to dip into reality by showing the legitimate grievances of the Choctaw nation, which makes Maya’s plight all the more emotional.
Another Marvel series owes its existence to this underrated gem.
Cox was only briefly able to appear in Hawkeye, and wasn’t given much definition outside of being another near-silent, brooding assassin. Echo is able to open her up more, and the show’s willingness to cast Deaf actors, as well as show the relationship between children of Deaf adults and their families, ensured that Maya has an interesting arc as someone who got mistakenly involved with bad people. That the series is set primarily in Oklahoma ensures that it doesn’t feel like it’s overreaching in its scope, and has more time to develop a tactile environment that has evolved. Telling a non-linear story also allows the series to incorporate truly wonderful performances; while Maya’s father, William, is killed before the events of the series, he is played in flashbacks by Zahn McClarnon, whose brilliant performance explains the virtues that his daughter carries with her for the rest of her life.
‘Echo’ Bridges the Gap Between Two Eras of Marvel TV
Marvel’s attempt to start incorporating the characters from the previous era of Netflix shows into the broader MCU has been somewhat awkward, given their discrepancy in tone. Fisk’s appearance in Hawkeye was particularly strange, as one of the darkest characters in the history of comic book adaptations on television was being inserted into a series that was much more light-hearted. Echo shows a more manipulative, calculating side to Fisk that reminds viewers why he is such a dangerous individual, but it also shows how he can feign compassion in order to take a young Maya under his wing. It’s also much more interesting to see Fisk struggling to ascend to the throne of power, as his characterization became more stagnant when he was established as the Mayor of New York in Daredevil: Born Again.
Echo showed that the MCU could succeed by developing smaller-scale, less expensive shows, but the series also featured some of the best combat in the entire franchise. The brutal hand-to-hand combat wasn’t just a reminder of the stakes, but something integral to Maya as a character when considering the training that she had received while growing up. Finding a way to synthesize Maya’s fighting abilities with the mystical powers that she inherited might have been a risk, but Echo found a way to seamlessly bring together the two tones without feeling incoherent. It’s a series that is open to expansion, should Maya ever return for a future project, but also functions as a standalone for those who have not meticulously followed the MCU thus far. Marvel’s television risks running into the same issue that its films have, which is being too reliant on legacy characters to develop a new generation of heroes. With Echo, the television side of the MCU showed it could do something new.
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