Echo Episodes 1-3 - Review

Editor's note: Echo releases on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar at 7:30 am in India. Disney provided IGN India with press screeners of Echo Episodes 1, 2 and 3 for this review.

After Maya Lopez's smashing entry in Hawkeye, the very prospect of MCU exploring the story of Marvel’s deaf-villain-turned-antihero with Alaqua Cox, who is an amputee with a prosthetic leg in real life, is every bit worth anticipating. Echo builds a grounded origin story for this lesser-known character of the MCU, rooted in its Native American culture, while playing all the right cards when it comes to promoting inclusivity, diversity and accessibility in popular culture.

All five episodes of Marvel’s Echo are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. IGN India received press screeners for the first three episodes of Echo, and here’s more from our initial reaction of the show.

Echo's origin story and everything MCU gets right

After Hawkeye’s introduction of Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez, aka Echo, the show dives into her roots and origins. Maya Lopez was introduced as the Leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, and the adoptive daughter of Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. In Hawkeye, we saw Maya’s father William being murdered by the Ronin, which sets Maya off on her own path of revenge against her perpetrator. When Clint Barton who was masquerading as the Ronin during the Blip, reveals that it was he who killed Maya’s father on the word of Kingpin’s informant, she turns on Fisk and shoots him in the face, seemingly killing him. Echo takes off from where Maya’s story ends in Hawkeye, as she goes back to her hometown in Oklahoma, to recuperate and to let the New York underworld know that a new Queen is here to rule.

Based on the first three episodes, what makes Echo an engaging watch are the aspects that make the character of Maya Lopez so unique and interesting. Exploration of Maya’s Native American origins is a step towards MCU’s efforts in increasing diversity and inclusion, and they did a good job of it. Not only does it not seem forced, but the show also explores Maya’s superpowers and connects its origins with that of her tribe. The Phoenix Force that Maya Lopez was known to host in the comics, is shown as having been passed on from her ancestors, who additionally have a sentient origin. With this, MCU not only granted Maya Lopez the edge required to join the ranks of the other superheroes with superpowers, but also explored her Choctaw history, across generations. The way Marvel has embraced inclusivity and diversity in the show is worthy of appreciation, making it a standout feature.

Alaqua Cox is a powerhouse of talent as the titular character

Topping it, we have Alaqua Cox’s portrayal of Echo. Every kick, every punch echoes the power this actress packs in, resonating with the brute force she was shown to personify in 2021’s Hawkeye. But Echo also explores Maya’s vulnerabilities as we dive more into the anti-heroic facet of her character. Cox manages to capture this perfectly with an innocence and softness in her portrayal, as she sets camp in her hometown and is forced to face the strained relations with her family.

Technically what makes Echo a worthy watch

Special shoutout to director Sydney Freeland who themselves are of Navajo descent, for ensuring authenticity even in minute details, be it in the use of ASL or the depiction of Native American lore. Scenes have been included within action sequences, where the sound fades out to complete silence, giving us an insight into how Maya perceives incoming physical threats and blocks them. As for the action sequences themselves, they are at par with the high standards of MCU and feature some of the best we’ve ever seen, where one unsurprisingly features Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. The action only adds to the thrilling, gritty watch that Echo has been till the end of the first three episodes, with cinematography taking the cake in capturing the essence and tone of the show. Overall, the show has been moving at a comfortable pace, smoothly and beautifully building on the character that Maya Lopez signifies in the MCU.

Potential challenges and misses

While we may not run out of things to say about everything that Echo got right, there's also the matter of the purpose the show serves in the MCU with its current storyline. While it is a platform for integrating Daredevil and The Defenders into the MCU, Maya Lopez too is out to fulfil a purpose of her own. She intends to send a loud message to Fisk’s men, but the execution of it only seems like a buildup for Kingpin’s comeback, given how lowkey Maya actually is throughout the events of the first 3 episodes. In addition to this, there seems to be a little too much missing when it comes to the relationship Maya shares with the different members of her family, be it with her grandmother Chula, or cousins Bonnie and Biscuits, or uncle Henry and Grandfather Skully. The complications seem to be for the sake of it, and the equations of alienation, loss, and betrayal shared within Maya's family could have been treated better.

However, overall, Marvel’s Echo not only divulges the journey of how a deaf and mute little girl with a prosthetic leg, grows up to become a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, but also explores how she evolves to make her presence known as the new Queen of the New York underworld. The addition of this new story of Echo and her roots and origins quite seamlessly expands the MCU, and Maya Lopez can easily be seen fitting right in in the Multiverse Saga, despite the show being a Marvel Spotlight production.