Echo Director Confirms Maya Lopez Is a Villain and Won't Have Her Comics Powers

Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox) was first introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one of the main antagonists in Hawkeye. The character was looking to avenge her father who she believed was killed by Ronin, Hawkeye's (Jeremy Renner) alter ego. At the end of the season, Maya learns her father's death was organized by her "uncle," Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) and she ends up shooting him. Today, the first trailer for the Echo spinoff was released, and it teases the origin of Echo and Kingpin's relationship. In the comics, Echo is a villain with the ability to mimic anyone's fighting style. ComicBook.com recently attended a trailer event for the series, and director and executive producer Sydney Freeland confirmed that while Echo is a villain, she won't have the same powers from the comics. 

"We wanted something that, again, if you're coming off of Hawkeye, and you have to keep in mind she's a villain," Freeland explained. "She's a villain. And so tonally, we wanted to lean into that. I think in talking with the executives and our approach, and when building visual style, it was sort of like, 'Oh yeah, lean into that, lean into that.'" 

Freeland added, "Yeah, so her power in the comic books is that she can copy anything, any movement, any whatever. It's kind of lame, I will say that is not her power [in the show] and I'll just kind of leave it at that."

What Is Echo Rated?

It sounds like Echo will have more in common with the Defenderverse than Marvel's Disney+ shows. Not only is Echo going to be released all at once, but it will be Marvel's first Disney+ series that will be released simultaneously on Hulu. Echo will also be Marvel's first Disney+ series to be rated TV-MA.

 "It's our first TV-MA show, so it's a little on the grittier side for Marvel," executive producer Brad Winderbaum recently told members of the press at the trailer event for Echo. "And I think again, shows kind of the breadth of what Marvel's capable of. And certainly something, again, if you know the comics and know the history, it feels very in line, but is kind of a new direction for the brand, especially on Disney+. And to that end, it's going to be, for many reasons, going to be simultaneously released on Disney+ and Hulu."  

"We wanted very adamantly to show that these are people in our show," Freeland explained. "They bleed, they die, they get killed, and there are real-world consequences. And again, talking, it's not the fate of the universe at stake because I think once you go that broad, you can sort of lose sight a little bit. And so that kind of dictated the tone a little bit."

Echo is now set to hit Disney+ and Hulu on January 10.