Marvel's Echo Star Alaqua Cox Explains Maya & Kingpin's Complicated Relationship

The complicated relationship between Maya Lopez and Wilson Fisk will be explored in Marvel's Echo. The upcoming limited series brings back some familiar characters from previous Marvel projects. Alaqua Cox returns to reprise her role as the titular Echo first introduced in Hawkeye, along with Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, who fans will remember from Netflix's Daredevil. Hawkeye concluded with Echo shooting her uncle, Wilson Fisk, though since it happened off-screen. Kingpin appears to be alive and somewhat well in Echo, and now Alaqua Cox is discussing how their relationship will play out in the series.

ComicBook.com spoke to Echo star Alaqua Cox, where she was asked to tease the relationship between Maya Lopez and Kingpin, and their reunion in Echo. "So obviously, in Hawkeye, Echo and Kingpin's relationship went downhill," Cox said through an ASL interpreter. "Catastrophe happened because Maya found out what Kingpin did to her father, and it was terrible, of course. So I'm excited for the audience to see that the relationship has become so much more intense and complicated. I want to know their reactions. I want them to react to the chaos."

Echo is described as a villain in new Marvel show

Echo is a street-level series, carrying with it a TV-MA rating. Since she was introduced as the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia in Hawkeye, it probably shouldn't be too much of a surprise to hear that Echo is described as a villain by director Sydney Freeland. 

"We wanted something that, again, if you're coming off of Hawkeye, and you have to keep in mind she's a villain," Freeland told ComicBook.com at a trailer event for Echo. "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 how Echo's powers will be different from the comics, stating, "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."

Starring Alaqua Cox, all five episodes of Echo will debut exclusively on both Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, January 9th. The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward. Vincent D'Onofrio will reprise his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, and Charlie Cox will reprise his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil. Echo will also star Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene and Zahn McClarnon.