Marvel Studios’ Echo Series Review

After her debut in 2021’s Hawkeye, Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox) set the MCU ablaze. Appearing as a secondary character in Hawkeye, a project be it film or television headlined by her was inevitable and is now upon us in the aptly-titled Echo. Since the debut of the MCU’s forray into television, each series has been connected in some way to its films, essentially putting the onus on viewers to watch the series’ corresponding film(s) in order to best understand their stories. A clear drawback for a large portion of audiences, Marvel has introduced “Marvel Spotlight,” a new moniker for a new collection of series that work independently from the film side and their ongoing characters and storylines. Also, a response to the style and more adult-oriented tone of the past Netflix Marvel series, Echo is the first series under that moniker which skews towards older audiences thanks to an added level of brutality to its action and violence. That action is one of the biggest highlights in what opens up a new venue for the MCU. Meanwhile, Cox proves that her debut was no fluke. However, where the film falters is its story. Sitting at a crossroads between the current MCU and the street level direction it hopes to go from here without ever committing to either side, it rushes its formal introduction to Lopez while trying to set up the future, all in only 5 episodes.

For those wondering how Echo fits in the grand scheme of the MCU, the series does not waste any time, taking viewers through Lopez’s culture and backstory before filling gaps in her story from Hawkeye and setting her on her current path. Learning the truth about her father’s death, her relationship with Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) took a turn as their father-daughter bond, where he used her and her rage as a weapon against his adversaries, became one of revenge. Taking the battle away from the mean streets of New York City, the story took Lopez back to her Oklahoma hometown where some unfinished business from her tragic past came back into focus. Leaving 20 years prior under not the most ideal circumstances, her trip back home gave her the chance to re-embrace her roots and reconnect with her friends and family. As that unfinished business created friction between she and those she left behind but watching those dynamics and how they evolved over the years made for some compelling content to add depth to help flesh out Lopez up to a certain extent as her story often conflicted with the series’ larger goal of proving set up.

In the end, it was only a matter of time until her past and present collided. Finding herself with a huge target on her back, Lopez could only get away for so long. However, she, and her powers tied to her heritage, should never be underestimated as the addition of her extended circle added a different dimension to the story and created a fun dynamic which unfortunately was one of many elements, alongside a deeper dive into her heritage and its connection to Lopez’s powers, that became casualties of the series’ compact nature. Following the cliffhanger ending of the third episode, was of course some sort of climax. It had action as expected and as always, viewers can also count on plot threads being wrapped together in a nice convenient bow that somewhat works but still comes off as a bit hollow, knowing that this series is merely the start of the story. As mentioned, the action is one of the highlights of the series thus far. Like a well-choreographed dance and unlike anything the MCU has done before on television, the action is fast-paced and flows fluidly as the camera moves in a similar fashion, capturing it all. Either hand-to-hand or shootout scenes, it is brutal and unforgiving. It’s just a shame that there wasn’t nearly enough of it here.

The best part of Echo is Alaqua Cox’s fearless performance as Lopez. As opposed to her performance in Hawkeye, this series allows her to show more of her personality and range as it dove deeper into the character. Tasked to carry most of the emotional weight, she proved to be more than capable at the task as Lopez found herself trying to navigate between two worlds, while finding a path forward. Despite Cox’s real-life deafness, she can still illustrate so much feeling using only her face and body language while bringing more range and depth to the character. She was a delight to watch but the supporting cast were also up to the task. D’Onofrio has certainly not missed a beat either as Kingpin. He has charm and can flip to switch to absolutely menacing whenever he has to. His chemistry with Cox was nothing short of spectacular as they found themselves often going toe-to-toe. Tantoo Cardinal and Graham Greene brought some levity as Lopez’ grandparents Chula and Skully and were fun to watch and Cody Lightning added some comic relief as Cousin Biscuits. Devery Jacobs also played a part as Bonnie, albeit a disappointingly minimal one, as did Chaske Spencer’s Henry.

At the end of the day, Echo has its moments but spends too much time straddling the line between story and future set up, relegating the series to a mere footnote on the way to some larger narrative goal.

still courtesy of Marvel Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.