Who is Maya Lopez, Marvel’s Echo

Marvel’s Echo will be making her first MCU appearance in the upcoming Hawkeye series. But who is Maya Lopez?

Next week, the MCU is introducing its first Native American hero into its on-screen universe. Alaqua Cox will play Maya Lopez, also known as Marvel’s Echo. The character has comic book ties to some of the most exciting characters and stories in the Marvel comics universe. 

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Created by: David Mack & Joe Quesada

Echo’s first appearance: Daredevil #9 (1999)

Powers & Abilities

Maya Lopez has photographic reflexes similar to the comic book villain Taskmaster. This means that she can replicate any skill she can see. 

Thanks to this ability, she’s an expert martial artist, acrobat, weapons master, and dancer. The character is also deaf and able to read lips. Despite not being able to hear, Maya is fluent in multiple languages.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Who is Echo in the Comics?

Marvel’s Echo was born deaf, and she is a member of the Cheyenne Nation. From a very young age, she was always very interested in art and dance. Thanks to her ‘echoing’ abilities, she’s also a master pianist.

When she was young, her father worked for Kingpin. When the crime boss had him murdered, he left a bloody handprint on his daughter’s face. This moment would change her life– and inspire the signature handprint she paints on her face.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Maya Lopez was originally a staple in the Daredevil comics. After the death of her father, Wilson Fisk took her in. He gave her access to all the best schools and education.

When she was older, Kingpin lied to her and convinced her that Daredevil had actually killed her father. He was hoping that Maya would eliminate the masked vigilante, but Daredevil was able to straighten out the facts. He and Maya shared a pretty spicy romantic tension after that. 

Maya has since participated in plenty of Marvel comics events, fighting alongside several heroes and teams over the years. She even plays host to the Phoenix Force, an ancient cosmic power based in concepts of creation and destruction.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Marvel’s Echo in Hawkeye on Disney+

In Hawkeye, actress Alaqua Cox will star as Maya. This will be the performer’s breakout role. Cox is a member of the Menominee and Mohican nation. Also like Maya, the actress was born deaf.

The main source of inspiration for the new Hawkeye series comes from a comic book run by Matt Fraction & David Aja. In the story, Clint is partially deaf.

His hearing aid is a noticeable factor in the story. And thanks to its appearance in the series trailer, we can assume it will be a part of this one, too. Clint coping with his loss of hearing could be one circumstance that connects him to Maya.

The trailer also showed us the reappearance of Clint’s Ronin persona, which we saw in Avengers: Endgame. It looks like Kate will be using it for some sloppy vigilante work of her own before Clint takes her under his wing. In the comics, Echo also takes on the Ronin identity– a plotline that could occur in the MCU.

Maya (Alaqua Cox) in Hawkeye, courtesy of Marvel Studios

What’s Next for Marvel’s Echo?

Disney+ Day gave us lots of exciting Marvel news, including confirmation that an Echo series is in the works. Announcing a series spinoff before the series even premieres is a big move, even for Marvel, but it could point to some major changes in the MCU.

Maya’s story is very tangled up with characters like Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. These characters, of course, live in the Netflix corner of the MCU– a universe fans have been thirsty to see folded into the greater MCU.

It seems likely that Echo will serve as another Marvel melding moment, true believers. But the character herself has a rich relationship with storytelling. Her series may play host to these fan-favorite characters, but hopefully, Maya’s story will stay at the center of the tale.

You can catch Maya Lopez’s Echo in ‘Hawkeye’ on November 24th exclusively streaming on Disney+.

Author: Danni Danger

Danni is a staff writer and editor whose expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 8 glorious years working at Austin Books & Comics, and created content for almost 15 years. They've written for the Daily Dot and made YouTube content with the Weirdlings. Danni currently does all the things for BoLS, Screen Fanatic, and TheStreet.