Echo’s Maya Lopez is one of Marvel’s most complicated characters

Echo is here, and with it: Echo (Alaqua Cox), who sets out on her own and discovers what it means to be a hero.

She was first introduced in the second episode of Disney Plus’ Hawkeye, initially an antagonist of Kate Bishop and Clint Barton. It wasn’t long before it was announced that Cox’s superhero would be getting her own show, which eventually premiered on Disney Plus and Hulu in January.

But is she a good guy? While she spent most of her first action-packed episode chasing our heroes, Marvel Comics readers know it’s a little more complicated than that.

(Ed. remark: This post contains spoilers for Hawkeye up to episode 3.)

Teased in the final scene of HawkeyeThis week’s second episode, “Echoes,” gives the superheroine Echo her full debut. The episode begins with her backstory, where she is played by young actress Darnell Besaw. The daughter of a member of the Tracksuit Mafia, she lost her hearing as a child. Without the money to enroll in a school for the deaf, Maya was forced to develop her ability to lip read in order to communicate with the hearing world that would not suit her.

And in the show, it seems that, much like in Marvel Comics, Maya Lopez’s attention to visual detail has developed into something of a supernatural power: reading and copying body language.

Who is Maya Lopez/Echo in Marvel Comics?

Echo first appeared on the pages of Daredevil, created by David Mack and Joe Quesada (Mack wrote the series, and he and Quesada both provided art), as the antagonist. In the comics, she was born deaf and possessed a supernatural ability to perfectly copy the movements of anyone she saw – much like Taskmaster, the Avengers villain who debuted in the MCU in Black Widow.

Maya was orphaned when her father died while working as an enforcer for Wilson “The Kingpin” Fisk, who you may remember from Netflix’s Daredevil series or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Fisk took her under his wing to develop her abilities, convincing her that he really was a nice guy, and eventually unleashed her against the “evil” Daredevil. Her most common “superhero” symbol is a handprint on her face, a tribute to her father’s last moments, just as it was in Hawkeye‘Echoes’.

As a minor Marvel Comics character, Maya has experienced many ups and downs. She’s dated Daredevil, become friends with Wolverine, was the first person to use the Ronin suit/identity in Marvel Comics, got caught up with Elektra and the Hand, and hung out with Moon Knight. She has been a member of the Avengers several times, where she was often written with a “supernatural” ability to read lips, even when characters (like Spider-Man, for example) wore full masks.

Maya has always been a Native American superhero, but recently in comics she specifically became a member of the Cheyenne Nation, rejoined the Avengers and became – let’s look at it here – the host of the Phoenix Force. At least that part probably is not is going to come in Hawkeye. But Clint Barton’s show won’t be the last time we see Echo.

Maya Lopez is getting her own Disney Plus spinoff show, and fans are crossing their fingers that the Echo series will reintegrate the world of Netflix Daredevil with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But they’ll wait a while, like Echo currently has no release window.