Echo has hit Disney+ and Hulu! We finally get to see the second chapter in the story of Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), but how much does she resemble Maya from the comics—particularly when it comes to her superpower? Let’s get into it.
Major spoilers for Echo ahead!
Echo picks up where 2021’s Hawkeye left off. At the end of Hawkeye, Maya finds out that Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), ordered her father killed. Maya seeks revenge by shooting Fisk in the face. Now she’s fighting his criminal empire—and it turns out that Fisk survived her attack.
Hawkeye establishes Maya as a highly skilled fighter, adept in martial arts and able to defeat multiple opponents in a brawl. However, in the comics, Maya earns the name Echo with her ability to perfectly mimic her opponents’ moves. So does Maya gain that ability in her spinoff series?
In an interview with Variety before the series aired, director and executive producer Sydney Freeland gave a pretty definitive answer. “Her power in the comic books is that she can copy anything, any movement, any whatever,” Freeland explained, but then went on to express disappointment in that power. “I will say, that is not her power,” Freeland said. “I’ll just kind of leave it at that.”
So what is Maya’s power? Does she have a superpower, or is she just a skilled fighter, like Hawkeye or Black Widow? We find out in episode 5, “Maya.”
Maya is a healer
In the last act of the series, Maya’s grandmother Chula (Tantoo Cardinal) tells her the meaning of visions she’s been having of other Choctaw women. Those women are Maya’s ancestors, and, in Chula and Maya’s mother’s words, they’re echoing through generations in order to guide her.
In the series finale, Maya’s ancestors finally manifest through Maya herself. We find out that Maya’s mother had the ability to heal physical wounds, and Maya discovers that she has that power, too—only she uses it to alleviate Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio)’s emotional trauma.
Of course, Maya’s ability isn’t as straightforward as superhero media can sometimes make a power out to be. Maya isn’t just someone who can use glowing fingers to heal a broken bone. Her story is a complex parable of family, redemption, and self-discovery. Who knows what facets of her identity she’ll uncover in the future? Now that she knows her family and ancestors have her back, Maya is sure to keep discovering new gifts.
(featured image: Disney+)
