ECHO

A SPIN-OFF FROM HAWKEYE

HOW ECHO WAS MADE

Marvel Studios was in early development on a Hawkeye spin-off centred on Maya Lopez by March 2021, and the series was officially announced as Echo at the Disney+ Day event in November 2021, with Marion Dayre as head writer and Amy Rardin joining as co-head writer. Sydney Freeland directed all episodes except the third, which Catriona McKenzie directed.

Echo was the first series under the Marvel Spotlight banner, the first Marvel Studios series released all at once rather than weekly, and the first to debut on Hulu and to receive a TV-MA rating. Principal photography began on 21 April 2022 at Trilith Studios in Georgia and wrapped on 26 August 2022 after 92 days, with Georgia towns standing in for Oklahoma. Its reported $40 million budget was the lowest for a Marvel Studios series at the time.

A CHOCTAW AND DEAF STORY

HOW THE SERIES TREATED CULTURE AND LANGUAGE

Maya is a member of the Choctaw tribe in Oklahoma rather than a member of the Blackfeet Nation as in the comics, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Native-led organisation IllumiNative were consulted. Seth Fairchild of the Choctaw Nation described the opportunity:

“an opportunity to really lend our voice and culture on a scale that would otherwise not have been possible.”

Seth Fairchild

Douglas Ridloff served as ASL consultant and consulting producer, the production worked with hundreds of Native Americans, and a Choctaw-language dub became available on 1 November 2024.

A FAMILY AND A KINGPIN

WHO IS IN THE CAST

Alaqua Cox plays Maya Lopez, with Chaske Spencer as Henry “Black Crow” Lopez, Tantoo Cardinal as Chula, Devery Jacobs as Bonnie, Cody Lightning as Biscuits, Graham Greene as Skully, Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez, Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock. Dave Porter composed the score, and the opening theme is “Burning” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

FIVE EPISODES AT ONCE

HOW THE SERIES WAS RECEIVED

All five episodes, from “Chafa” to “Maya,” were released on 9 January 2024, with runtimes from 37 to 51 minutes. The series premiered at number one on both Disney+ and Hulu, and Nielsen measured 731 million minutes watched in the week of 8 to 14 January.

Rotten Tomatoes lists a 71% critics’ score from 89 reviews and a 57% audience score, and its consensus says Cox makes the first season “consistently worth watching.” Metacritic gives it 62 from 24 critics and a user score of 5.1. Cox received a Performer of the Week mention from TVLine and nominations at the Astra TV Awards, and the series received a Creative Arts Emmy nomination for costumes, with no wins.

A mid-credits scene shows Fisk watching a news story about a New York mayoral race, and Vincent D’Onofrio said in November 2022 that Echo would lead into Daredevil: Born Again.

In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the MCU release order guide between The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine. It sits between Loki Season 2 and Agatha All Along in the MCU series order and Marvel TV shows in order guides. In the MCU timeline guide it comes between Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.