Origins: Echo
From Hugh of @hughv302
On January 9th, all 5 episodes of the newest MCU series Echo drops continuing the story of Maya Lopez, who was first introduced to us in the 2021 Hawkeye series as the adopted daughter of Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. But who is Maya Lopez you might be asking? What’s her full story? And how does she connect to the gritty world of Daredevil? Find out more below!
Origin
As with most comic book characters there are multiple origins, identities, incarnations and adaptations of certain characters across comics and various media. For this overview we will be looking at the main variant of the character that first appeared in Daredevil #9 (Dec. 1999) and would go on to make multiple appearances in future Marvel comic stories including her own series. Maya Lopez is a Cheyenne-Latin American who grew up with her Cheyenne father William “Crazy Horse” Lincoln after her Latina mother Ms. Lopez deserts their family. Originally thought to be learning-disabled, once her teachers notice her ability to duplicate musical performances, they come to realize she is in fact deaf. Maya’s father is involved in a gang and his partner in crime happens to be none other than Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. But when Maya became nine years old Fisk became her guardian after her father was murdered not knowing that it was Fisk himself that arranged to get her father killed. Crazy Horse dies, leaving a bloody handprint on Maya's face and a last dying wish: that the Kingpin raises Maya well. Kingpin honors his dying wish, caring for her as his own daughter. Hoping to one day use her talents, Fisk subtly manipulates her over the years into learning fighting skills as well as the performance arts, which she excels in both. She remains dedicated to Fisk as her father figure and therefore has completed many missions on his behalf under the alias of Echo. Fisk ends up using her to hunt down Daredevil by claiming that he was her father’s murderer. At same time though under the guise of Maya she ends up meeting Matt Murdock and ends up falling in love with him completely unaware that he is Daredevil.
Donning a white painted handprint on her face, similar to the bloody handprint left by her dying father, she begins her hunt for Daredevil as Echo and when the two meet she proves more than a match for him having watched videos of Daredevil and his nemesis Bullseye fighting. After several failed attempts, noticing that Daredevil can easily move through the dark, Maya easily figures out Daredevil's weakness and exploits this by having a fight in a place where Daredevil's heightened senses are useless. Maya easily takes down Daredevil and nearly kills the vigilante, refusing only when she finds out Matt and Daredevil are one and the same. Matt manages to expose the Kingpin's lies. In revenge, Maya confronts and shoots Fisk in the face, blinding Fisk and starting the chain of events that lead to the man's eventual downfall (Kingpin later partially recovered eyesight through reconstructive eye surgery). After realizing the horror of her actions and the lies with which she has grown up, Maya flees the United States to do some soul-searching. When she comes back, she tries reuniting with Murdock, only to find out Matt is now with someone else and that the Kingpin is still alive (despite Maya's attempts). Leaving Matt, Maya visits the Kingpin in prison who tells her that he does not blame her for what she did, and (that despite all that had happened) the Kingpin still loves her like a daughter.
Unsatisfied and still needing peace, Maya turns to the Chief (her father's old friend) noted for wisdom. The Chief sends Maya on a vision quest to calm her soul. On her quest, she meets and befriends Wolverine who helps her recover and passes on knowledge of Japanese culture and Japanese organized crime. Soon enough, Maya makes peace with her past and is back doing performance art. Months later, Maya, at Daredevil’s request, used the new identity Ronin to assist the Avengers against the criminal organization known as the Hand in Japan. Investigating further, she was killed and resurrected by Elektra and the Hand, and subsequently drugged in order to brainwash her into their service. But Luke Cage’s Avengers faction rescued her with Danny Rand, AKA Iron Fist, as well as Doctor Strange who helps to purge the drug from her system. Ceding the Ronin identity to Hawkeye, Maya then joined Cage’s Avengers as her old alias of Echo, residing at the Sanctum Sanctorum. Echo would go on to help multiple heroes over the years in multiple comic events like Secret Invasion and the Enter the Phoenix crossover proving herself to be a vital hero in all of them.
Powers & Weaknesses
Echo can duplicate any physical action that she sees, ranging from musical performance and ballet to martial arts and weapon usage. She's able to mimic the fighting styles of others much stronger than herself. She's a highly talented pianist, music composer, artist, ballet dancer, boxer, martial artist, and markswoman. In combat, she sometimes wields conventional pistols, guns that fire poisonous flechettes, a billy club, and shuriken (throwing stars). In the Enter the Phoenix crossover event she would go on to possess the cosmic power of the Phoenix force, which gives her the abilities of telepathy, flight, superhuman strength, and the ability to generate flames of cosmic energy. Despite her enhanced abilities though she does have several notable weaknesses most of which are connected to her deafness that presents great drawbacks. Her absolute reliance on visual cues renders her helpless in the dark, and her ability to communicate by reading lips prevents her from taking oral commands and communicating with people who are wearing masks or are not in direct visual contact.
Introduction in Hawkeye
Maya was first introduced as one of several main antagonists in the 2021 Hawkeye series where she is the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia under the watchful eye of Kingpin. We see parts of her origin with her father, who was the former leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, had worked alongside Kingpin to train her to use her unique talents to help the organization despite being both deaf and an amputee. Years later in the five year Post Snap era, Kingpin tips off Clint Barton, under the alias of Ronin, to the location of Maya’s father and as a result Clint kills him. Maya harbors a deep hatred for Ronin in the following years leading up to the events of the show where when Ronin seemingly resurfaces she goes on the hunt for him which puts both Clint Barton & Kate Bishop in her crosshairs. She’s eager to hunt down and kill Ronin but Fisk advises her not to pursue him through Maya's lieutenant, Kazi. She would end up ignoring both of them and continue her pursuit causing her to clash with Barton, Bishop and even the Black Widow assassin Yelena Belova, who is also after Clint causing things to escalate for her group. Eventually Barton dons the Ronin suit and confronts Maya at the auto shop where he killed her father. During the fight, he unmasks himself and attempts to convince her to let go of her vendetta and leave his family alone. He reveals that an informant working for Maya's boss wanted her father dead, but Maya initially disbelieves him. Bishop arrives to help Barton escape, while Maya becomes suspicious of Kazi, who was absent on the night of her father's death. Later on she meets up with Fisk and Kazi where the former asks what has been going on due to her reckless behavior in pursuing Ronin. She apologizes for getting carried away trying to avenge the death of her father and explained that she had realized that she needed to move on and focus on her job, as killing her father's killer would not bring him back. Fisk assured Maya that her father would want what was best for her. Maya requested from Fisk a few days off to clear her head, which he agreed to. As Maya began to walk away, Fisk grabbed her shoulder to tell her that he loved her, which she said back before leaving. In reality Maya felt betrayed by both her father figure and her best friend now knowing the knowledge she was given by Barton. On Christmas Eve during the unfolding chaos at the Bishop Christmas party, Maya confronts and kills Kazi before later going to confront Fisk and shoots him point blank in the face. However, Fisk ends up miraculously surviving the attempt on his life only having an injured left eye.
What to expect?
The Echo series is set to further explore Maya’s relationship with Fisk over the years as well as follow her story after the events in Hawkeye where she is seemingly on the run from Fisk’s organization leading her 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. The exact plot details have been largely kept under wraps but it is clear that she is set to confront Fisk again after he had survived their previous confrontation. It is also shown that she is set to confront Daredevil in this series further connecting her to the world of Daredevil like in comics. It is expected that this series most likely going to focus on exploring Maya as a character but it also seems like the series could potentially serve as a kickstarter for what may unfold in the follow up series Daredevil Born Again. It is suspected based on recent trailers that Maya may attempt to take down or overthrow Fisk’s organization and potentially cause him to pursue politics by running to be New York City's mayor. This could mean that the story of Echo could be setting up a possible adaptation of the 2022 Devil’s Reign arc from comics where Fisk as the elected mayor of New York City attempts to use the position and resources to outlaw vigilantism and declare war on heroes from street level to even earth's mightiest. This is merely speculation but given that the gritty realm of Daredevil has officially joined the expansive MCU and has had some of its characters cross over in several projects there are endless possibilities of what could happen within Daredevil Born Again including an adaptation of Devil’s Reign arc. This all depends on what occurs in the Echo series but there is no question that it will definitely set in motion certain events that could transpire in the follow up series. Maya’s story could also potentially continue on in follow up series where she could end up being an ally or even a potential lover to Daredevil just like in comics. Again though it depends on what occurs between them in this series. As for where things go for her beyond all that it is simply too soon to guarantee anything. One thing that is guaranteed though is that this series is going to be a lot darker than Hawkeye and will definitely lean more towards the tone and style of the original Daredevil series that was under the previous ownership of Netflix.
All episodes of Echo drop on January 9th, 2024 on Disney+.
