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Making her way into the Marvel Spotlight, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) already represents a formidable force of nature, and a progressive step forward in storytelling for this superhero studio. Echo might be the first step into an adult arena that the Disney sponsored powerhouse has made in terms of projects, but for this series to stick the landing, it needed more than Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), Daredevil (Charlie Cox), and a change of tone to win over its audience.
For many reasons this might be the moment tides turn for Marvel, since Lily Gladstone’s Golden Globe win in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon has created a cultural impact, which will either put Marvel ahead of the curve or have any success written off as luck in the eyes of audiences. A contention that creator and show runner Marion Dayre may contest either way, since any project, franchise based or not, often has a lead time of over two years from script to screen.
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Thankfully, Echo proves to be a character driven revenge drama grounded by Alaqua Cox, who builds on her stoic cameo from Hawkeye by focusing on family as defined through a Native American origin story. In the main, this boils down to fleeting introductions outside of the principal players including her grandmother Chula (Tantoo Cardinal) brother William (Zahn McClarnon), and Uncle Skully (Graham Greene), alongside crucial flashbacks that gradually tie this tale together.
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Other elements that jump out of those opening episodes might feel quite pedestrian, but the character arcs always come before any action as standard, giving this latest Marvel effort a more measured and contemporary tone, rather than relying on traditional comic book conventions. However, with only 5 episodes to explore the history of this profoundly deaf Native American anti-hero, Echo feels oddly concise as screen time flies by, and character complexities remain unresolved.
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Balanced between retribution and bloody revenge, Maya is constantly driven by these dramatic dilemmas, as she strives to fight her battles free from emotional ties. That is what makes Echo unique amongst Marvel properties and will ultimately keep audiences coming back for subsequent seasons, as the allowance granted for adult themes moves beyond bloodletting and offers something more grounded to comic book diehards than action sequences drenched in claret.
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By exploring the Native American legacy and embracing ASL (American Sign Language) through sound design, Echo is addressing inclusivity as an idea within this universe without using a dramatic shoehorn. Shifts in perspective feel dramatically satisfying, audiences are offered a unique point of view, and there is a sense of history baked in that feels more phase one in approach. Meaning that come the halfway point in this Marvel show, it will be the maturity of those storytelling choices people remember, rather than any vicious beatings or villainous posturing which has often been the downfall of properties in the past. However, whether Echo lands with a fanfare or slips beneath the radar remains to be seen, but since Marvel have decided to break ranks and release everything, everywhere, all at once, audiences can only take that as a sign of confidence which has been lacking lately.
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All episodes of Echo are released exclusively on Disney+ from 10 January.