Source: Jesse Grant / Getty
Tonight marks the beginning of a new era in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maya Lopez, who goes by the alias Echo, is expanding upon the relentless, a**-kicking, take-no-s**t character who we first met in the MCU series Hawkeye as the star of her very own nominal series ECHO that premieres tonight on Disney Plus!
Source: Jesse Grant / Getty
It’s been almost exactly a year since Marvel fans watched Maya go toe-to-toe with Clint Barton (Hawkeye) and her larger-than-life mentor and father figure Kingpin and after the release of the gritty trailer, we have been very excited to see how Echo has developed and what her solo storyline entails.
Source: Jesse Grant / Getty
A few weeks ago, GlobalGrind editor Jason “Jah” Lee had the privilege of watching the first three episodes of the 5-episode series before exclusive interviews with lead actress Alaqua Cox (Echo/Maya Lopez), co-stars Chaske Spencer and Devery Jacobs, in addition to series director Sydney Freeland, and executive producer Richie Palmer. Each interview provided insight into the Echo ethos and how Native American culture was infused into the storytelling to provide viewers with a true understanding of the character and her world.
Before we talked about the show itself, we had to ask Alaqua how she was feeling on the eve of the premiere especially considering that her role in Hawkeye was the very first time she had ever acted on screen.
“Yeah, it just feels so crazy and surreal. There’s a lot of words to describe it but it’s like, what’s going to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? I’m very proud of the show and the [indigenous] representation and that we are showing it in the right way.”
When asked about the opening scene to the show that features gripping images of a Native American ritual Alaqua signed, “I loved how they included a lot of the Choctaw and indigenous history. It was so beautiful because the ancestors play such an important role in our indigenous community and culture.”
Check out the rest of what Alaqua had to say about her ECHO role in the video above.
ECHO premieres tonight on Disney Plus at 6pm PST/9pm EST.
