Echo (miniseries)

Five months after the events of Hawkeye (2021), Maya Lopez is being pursued by Wilson Fisk's organization, leading her to return to her hometown in Oklahoma, where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community. == Cast and characters ==

• Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez / Echo:A deaf Native American Choctaw and the former leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, a criminal gang working for Wilson Fisk. Director and executive producer Sydney Freeland noted that Maya is in "a very vulnerable, emotional place" and has "all this bottled-up emotion and rage and feeling inside of her", which Fisk is able to exploit. Maya does not have the ability to perfectly copy another person's movements from the comics, which Freeland felt was "kind of lame". Stunt coordinator Mark Scizak was able to incorporate Cox's prosthetic leg into her fights, with Scizak describing Maya's fighting style as "a very grounded mix of MMA and a bunch of martial arts". Darnell Besaw, Cox's cousin, portrays a young Maya Lopez. • Chaske Spencer as Henry "Black Crow" Lopez:Maya's uncle and William's brother, who owns a local roller-skating rink and is still connected to Fisk's criminal empire. Spencer said Henry "feels guilty" that William died and Maya's return makes him face things he is not ready to yet. • Tantoo Cardinal as Chula:Maya's estranged grandmother. Cardinal explained that at the start of the series, the two's relationship "is pretty fractured and they are not in a good place" given Chula's anger following the death of her daughter, Maya's mother, which led to Maya and her father leaving. Isabella Madrigal portrays a young Chula. • Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil:A blind lawyer with superhuman senses from Hell's Kitchen who leads a double life as a masked vigilante. Daredevil appears in a flashback sequence where he fights Maya while she is on an early assignment for Fisk. Executive producer Richie Palmer explained that Daredevil's inclusion was done in a way that the creatives hoped would feel like it was part of his story that had been established in Marvel Television's Netflix series, though still accessible for viewers who had not seen those series. He said, "we just wanted to make sure that it honored what came before it, but hopefully pushed it forward also" and helped lead into the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again (2025-present). It was previously reported that the character's appearance in the series would see him searching for a former ally, which was reported to be Jessica Jones. • Devery Jacobs as Bonnie:A "resilient and strong willed" person who is a child of deaf adults (CODA), Maya's estranged cousin, and an EMT. She "took it hard" when Maya first left given they were so close, and is hopeful to rekindle that relationship once she returns. Jacobs previously voiced Kahhori in the second season of Marvel Studios Animation's What If...? (2023), which she called a "coincidence" that she was part of two Marvel Studios projects and noting the two characters were not related. Wren Zhawenim Gotts portrays a young Bonnie. • Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez: Maya's deceased father and a former commander of the Tracksuit Mafia. • Cody Lightning as Biscuits:Maya's "well-meaning" cousin, who is "fun-loving and good natured". Lightning said that Biscuits becomes Maya's "sidekick who provides some comic relief for her", calling him "a big earnest puppy dog" who has a strong loyalty to family. • Graham Greene as Skully: A grandfather-figure to Maya, who owns the town pawn shop. Unlike other members of Maya's estranged family, Skully is more willing to find a way forward in their relationship. • Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin:A crime lord in New York who is Maya's adoptive uncle and the man responsible for her father's death. After he was shot by Maya during the events of Hawkeye (2021), Fisk begins to wear an eyepatch on one eye, an homage to a point in the comics where he was blinded in both eyes. Despite being shot by Maya, D'Onofrio noted that Fisk is working hard to get her back in his life, saying the series shows the two in a "very father-daughter trepidatious period". Palmer enjoyed being able to see a different side of the character's "emotionality" in the series, since he was "humbled" by Maya at the end of Hawkeye, which made him a "bit of a changed man". D'Onofrio believed he portrayed the character in a way that it elicited the same "uneasy" feelings about him as he did in his portrayal on the Marvel Netflix series Daredevil (2015–2018), and wanted to show that he can "care for people in a real way", which enhances Fisk's intrigue and scariness. When asked if Fisk was being set up as the Thanos of the MCU's street-level projects, executive producer Brad Winderbaum agreed, calling the series a "crucial chapter" in the character's journey, and that Echo would "set the stage in some remarkable ways" for his next appearances. At the end of the series, when Maya uses her powers on Fisk to try to heal his childhood trauma, D'Onofrio believed this had "enlightened" Fisk, rather than changed him, which leads him to consider running as New York City's mayor to amass more power. After gaining for the role in Daredevil, D'Onofrio chose to wear a fat suit for Echo, having chosen to do this with his appearance in Hawkeye. D'Onofrio thought the suit had progressed with modern technology to give him a more realistic look while also being lighter to wear, which allowed him to not have to gain the weight. Additionally, Katarina Ziervogel portrays Taloa, Maya's mother. Julia Jones, Morningstar Angeline, and Dannie McCallum appear, in vignettes and flashes, as Maya's ancestors , , and : per variations of the Choctaw origin story, Chafa was the first Choctaw, helping her people emerge to the world from a cave-in at Nanih Waiya; Lowak was a Choctaw tribeswoman in 1200 who competed in a game of Choctaw Stickball; and Tuklo was the first female Lighthorseman. Andrew Howard, who previously portrayed Luther Banks in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), recurs as Zane, one of the leaders of the Black Knife Cartel who is loyal to Fisk. Thomas E. Sullivan, who previously portrayed Nathaniel Malick in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., appears as Victor "Vickie" Tyson, an employee at Henry's bowling rink. Jeremy Renner appears as Clint Barton / Ronin in the first episode through archive footage from Hawkeye, while Richie Palmer Sr. and ML Gemmill, respectively, voice Fisk's parents Bill and Marlene Fisk in the final episode, replacing Domenick Lombardozzi and Angela Reed, who portrayed the characters in Daredevil. Pat Kiernan and Errol Louis portray themselves in the mid-credits scene of "Maya". == Episodes ==

Development In December 2020, deaf and amputee newcomer Alaqua Cox was announced as having been cast as the Marvel Comics character Maya Lopez / Echo in Marvel Studios' Disney+ series Hawkeye (2021). Additionally, both diamond shapes represent all of life's journeys, both figurative and literal. In Choctaw culture, the sun is believed to hold great power. The sun's illumination symbolizes a “Bright Path to victory.” The regalia that Chula makes Maya is made with a fabric that has a red diamond pattern, with intricate beading details, the Choctaw swirl on the left shoulder, the hand with an eye in the center of the palm on the right shoulder, the sun on the right hip, and more diamonds beaded onto the shoulder pads. Beading is a very tedious task and takes lots of hours to finish. The beaded detail highlights the time, effort, and extensive planning that went into creating something so beautiful. Also, in the Choctaw culture, through the sun, people “saw God’s eyes,” which is where the hand-eye and sun symbol come into play on Maya’s regalia. Secondary characters’ clothing throughout the show has symbolism as well. For instance, Chula, Maya’s grandmother, in episode four, has diamonds all over her shirt and a sweater, which is another parallel to the diamondback snake. In episode two, there is a lot of traditional Choctaw dress when the flashback to 1200 AD shows the stickball game. The players are wearing dried-out animal hide, their faces and bodies are painted to show which team they are on, tattoos of diamonds on their bodies, and they wear fluffy animal tails. People watching the game have feathers in their hair, are wearing beaded jewelry, and wear animal bones as jewelry. The color of the body paint on the players wasn’t just to differentiate teams, but had meaning as well. Red represents blood, specifically the blood of Choctaw ancestors, white is for purity, and blue represents “future prosperity of the Tribe.” Filming Principal photography began on April 21, 2022, at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, as well as throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area, in Atlanta, with Freeland and McKenzie directing. Cinematographers include Kira Kelly for Freeland's episodes, and Magdalena Górka for McKenzie's episode. The series was filmed using the working titles Grasshopper and Whole Branzino. A traditional Choctaw blessing ceremony was performed before the start of production. Filming was set to occur along the Great Walton Railroad in Social Circle, Georgia in April, as well as in and around Peachtree City, Georgia from late April to late August 2022. Filming was previously expected to begin in February 2022, as well as in early April. Filming establishing shots for two episodes took place in Grantville, Georgia from May 16 to 20, on various streets in the town, the Grantville water tower, and Bonnie Castle. Filming outside Atlanta occurred with the first group of extras around June 1, with the second group for three weeks in July, and with the dancers and singers extras for around two-to-three weeks in July. The powwow set was built on a rural county fairground that Trujillo felt "had this great tone, texture and character". It was initially difficult to find locations in Georgia to double as Oklahoma, but the creatives were able to use their trip to the Choctaw Nation and scout the surrounding areas to gather reference photos and information that helped inform them on locations in Georgia that would work for shooting. Filming occurred over 92 days, and wrapped on August 26, 2022. Freeland worked to ensure her close-up shots included actors signing, with many on the crew taking American Sign Language classes. They learned that unlike speaking, which conveys text and subtext, signing conveys the text while a person's face convey's the subtext, which changed Freeland's approach to filming Lopez. Douglas Ridloff served as the ASL consultant and a consulting producer, after previously doing so on Hawkeye and Eternals (2021), with the series employing ASL and Indigenous ASL interpreters. Ridloff, who is the husband of Eternals actress Lauren Ridloff, would adjust his translations of English to sign language depending on each character, taking into account things such as what their proficiency should be or familial or regional dialects. For example, Bonnie signs without speaking as she is proficient while the elder characters such as Chula sign slower and use SimCom, which is signing and speaking at the same time. Ridloff was also able to incorporate Plains Indian Sign Language and other Indigenous sign languages that "date back to pre-colonization" into the series. Post-production In May 2023, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that the series was originally filmed as eight episodes and after various production issues, had been found by Feige to be "unreleasable"; discussions were then had about possibly editing what had been filmed into four or six episodes during post-production before it was ultimately decided to reshoot much of the series. The series ultimately consists of five episodes. Due to its grounded story, it was reported as having fewer visual effects compared to Marvel Studios' other series. Editors for the series are Joel Pashby, Chris McCaleb, Amelia Allwarden, Shelby Hall, and Tania Goding. Music By February 2023, Mato Wayuhi was working on the score for the series, but was no longer involved by the end of July or start of August. Dave Porter revealed in December that he was serving as the composer for the series. The title track was released by Hollywood Records and Marvel Music on January 5, 2024, followed by the series' soundtrack album on January 12, 2024. "Burning" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs is heard over the main titles. The soundtrack heavily featured several pre-existing vocal songs, as opposed to prior MCU Disney+ series which traditionally featured original scores. == Marketing ==

Alaqua Cox, D'Onofrio, Jacobs, Greene, Cody Lightning, Chaske Spencer, and Feige presented the first footage of the series in a first-look video at the D23 Expo in September 2022, which included subtitles. Wilson Chapman of Variety highlighted many scenes featuring Echo "kicking ass" and of the Native American people, and the appearance of Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin with an eyepatch. Aidan Kelley from Collider said the footage perfectly set up the series' tone and made it clear that Lopez's Native American heritage would be prominent throughout. Kelley also said the footage showed Lopez being "a total badass with an incredible performance from Alaqua Cox who just exudes charisma without uttering a single word". The first trailer was released on November 3, 2023. Michael McWhertor at Polygon called the footage "shockingly violent" and pointed out its inclusion of a brief Daredevil cameo. Later that day, the first two episodes were screened at the District area of the Choctaw Casinos & Resorts in Durant, Oklahoma, with Freeland also participating in a Q&A. The MOWA Choctaw Cultural Center also began one of the Choctaw Nation's largest annual powwows to promote the series and celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month. A trailer released on December 16, 2023, that indicated the series' earlier release date, was noted for its brutal and bloody violence, which Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool believed was the most seen in a Marvel series since Marvel Television's Netflix series. ComicBook.coms Adam Barnhardt pointed out the use of narration in the trailer, "a rare occurrence for a Marvel Studios show", to note Echos use of violence. A teaser released a week before the series' premiere included footage of Fisk and Daredevil from Daredevil. James Whitbrook at Gizmodo opined that this, along with comments from Winderbaum about personally believing Daredevil should be part of the MCU's Sacred Timeline, was "[s]addling Echo as [a] proto-Daredevil sequel" that "speaks to the complex, complicated ways Marvel now has to deal with the shared universe boom". He also found it "funny" that Echo was focusing on its connections to Daredevil when it was supposed to be the first "Marvel Spotlight" series that was created to be largely standalone and free from needing to know other films or series to understand and watch. Following the series' release, Cox promoted it with several talk show appearances while Freeland was set to discuss the series at the Sundance Film Festival and at the racial justice organization IllumiNative's Indigenous House. == Release ==

Echo was simultaneously released in its entirety on Disney+ and Hulu on January 9, 2024, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, consisting of five episodes. The series was the first Marvel Studios series to release all of its episodes at once, as the studio's previous series were released weekly. Echo was available on Hulu until April 9, 2024. A Choctaw language dub of the episodes became available on November 1, 2024. Consultant Terry Billy explained that translating between English and Choctaw was about getting as close as possible to the intended verbiage or context and, when that was not possible, interpreting the context into "everyday" Choctaw. The series was originally scheduled to be released in mid-2023, before Dayre stated in December 2022 that the series would likely be released around a year from then, indicating a late 2023 premiere, which Marvel Studios subsequently announced as November 29, 2023, before it was delayed in September 2023 to January 10, 2024. Marvel Studios later announced the series would debut the night before on January 9. It is part of Phase Five of the MCU, and the first series released under the "Marvel Spotlight" banner. == Reception ==

Viewership Echo premiered at number one on both Disney+ and Hulu. Its release also led to increased viewership for Hawkeye, the first two seasons of Daredevil, and the first season of The Punisher on Disney+. The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million U.S. users for original and acquired content across SVOD and AVOD services, revealed that Echo was the fifth most-streamed program during the week of January 11. JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users around the world, reported that Echo ranked as the fifth most-streamed television series from January 8—11. Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, calculated that Echo was the sixth most-streamed original series in the U.S. during the week of January 28. It later moved to tenth place during the week of February 4. Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, estimated that the series was watched for 731 million minutes from January 8—14. Nielsen also reported that Echo attracted an audience typical of Marvel series, with two-thirds of viewers aged 35–64 and 60% male. Luminate, which measures streaming performance in the U.S. by analyzing viewership data, audience engagement metrics, and content reach across various platforms, reported that Echo was the most watched Marvel show on Disney+, accounting for 11.8% of total viewership, according to data compiled between December 29, 2023, and May 10, 2024. Luminate also calculated that Echo was watched for 1,537 million minutes in 2024. Critical response The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 70% approval rating with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 88 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Alaqua Cox makes Echo first season consistently worth watching, while hard-hitting action and fresh narrative elements suggest strong potential for this slow-building series." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Accolades Cox's performance was an honorable mention for TVLine Performer of the Week for the week ending January 13, 2024, with Keisha Hatchett stating Cox "delivered her best performance" in the series' finale episode where she "unleashed the Choctaw warrior within", calling it "empowering to see her cry while speaking with her mother's spirit, her tear-filled eyes packing a harder punch than the physical blows in the scenes that followed". Cox is nominated for Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie at the 4th Astra TV Awards, while Ambre Wrigley, Kizzie Martin Lillas, and Kristina Elaine Taylor are nominated for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes at the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for their work on "Lowak". == Choctaw Culture and Traditions in Miniseries ==

Choctaw Language/Chahta Anumpa Choctaw language is a Muskogean language that has been spoken by the Choctaw people for centuries. Due to assimilation during European colonization, Choctaw became an endangered language. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma created the Chata Anumpa Aiikhvna (School of Language) to help increase the number of Choctaw speakers. Additionally, with Teresa Billy’s help, Choctaw is spoken throughout the miniseries, and there is a version of the entire miniseries dubbed in Choctaw. Teresa is “a first language Choctaw speaker,” and her help with filming Echo has helped preserve the culture and identity of Choctaw. Matrilineal Clan Structure In the miniseries, when Maya returns home to Tamaha, Oklahoma, she reconnects with her ancestors and her powers. She begins to have flashbacks of her ancestors with the same powers: Chafa, the first descendant, the woman playing stickball, and the female hunter. Maya’s powers are passed down through her female descendants. Chula, Maya's grandmother, passed the power onto Maya and Bonnie, Maya's estranged cousin. In the last episode of the series, you see all three of them activate their connection with their ancestors when their palms glow with the swirls. When this happens, they have the ability to heal and have photographic reflexes. Stickball (Ishtaboli) Stickball, or in the Chata language Ishtaboli, is known as “little brother of war,” a substitute for warfare. When disputes arose between Choctaw communities, like the dispute over land in the series, stickball was a non-lethal resolution to conflict. The games can include an unlimited number of players. Today, the game is still played, but with a few rule changes, such as the number of players and contact rules. Lacrosse is also a modern-day adaptation of stickball. Biskinik The Biskinik, a woodpecker, is considered to be a messenger bird within Choctaw culture. This means that Biskinik is believed to carry messages between people and the spirit world, serve as a sign or warning when it appears, and represent communication and guidance, which is how it got nicknamed the “news bird.” Biskinik appears many times throughout the show to foreshadow danger. Today, Biskinik is the official title of the Choctaw newspaper and symbolizes the newspaper’s role as a messenger bringing news to the tribe. == Documentary special ==

In February 2021, the documentary series Marvel Studios: Assembled was announced. The special on this series, "The Making of Echo", was released on Disney+ on January 31, 2024. It explores how the creative team learned American Sign Language and worked to accurately portray Native American culture, as well as the collaboration between Marvel Studios and the Choctaw Nation. == Future ==

In November 2022, D'Onofrio stated that Echo would lead into the events of the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, with D'Onofrio and Charlie Cox reprising their respective roles as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin and Matt Murdock / Daredevil. Following the series' successful debut, Marvel Studios reportedly expressed interest in using Echo for future MCU projects and began developing new ideas related to its street-level heroes. == Notes ==