Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Echo.
Echois now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, and for the most part, it straddles being part of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe while also attempting torecapture the feel of the various Marvel series on Netflix. Picking upafter the events ofHawkeye,Echofinds Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) at a crossroads. She discovered that her adoptive uncle Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) was responsible for the death of her father, and promptly shot him in the face. But she still feels tornover reconnecting with her long-lost family or becoming the new Queen of Crime.
In typical Marvel Comics fashion, that divide ends up affecting Maya’s life once she learns there’s a price on her head after she incapacitated Fisk. Add in the mysterious visions of her ancestors, and it’s clear that she’s dealing with a lot. Eventually, Maya does choose her path in the finale, appropriately titled “Maya.“Here’s a spoiler-filled examination of howEchoends, as well as its potential ties to an upcoming Marvel Studios show.
Maya Lopez 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.
Maya Embraces New Abilities, Her Heritage, and Her Family in the ‘Echo’ Finale
Anyone who’s seen the trailers and TV spots forEchoknows thatFisk survived his encounter with Maya inHawkeye— albeit with a nasty scar — and the Kingpin of Crime soon re-enters her life with a proposition: come back to work for him as his equal. He also makes the mistake of revealing that he killed his father and kept the hammer he used to do it. This doesn’t sit well with Maya, who rejects Fisk. Eventually, Maya and Fisk come to blows in Oklahoma, and the fight endswith Maya using her healing powers to make Fisk confront his trauma.Those powers are part of her heritage; as her grandmother Chula (Tantoo Cardinal) reveals to her, the Choctaw have passed on “echoes” of themselves throughout time, allowing their descendants to draw upon a lifetime of skills. In Maya’s case, this not only augments her fighting prowess but also allows her to tap into the same healing energies her mother inherited.
ThroughoutEcho,Maya also slowly reconnects with her family, finally joining them at the end of the series.It’s not an easy road: her uncle Henry (Chaske Spencer) lambasts her for trying to take on Fisk while she hasn’t seen her grandmother or her cousin Bonnie (Devery Jacobs) since her mother died. In learning to embrace her family’s heritage and rejecting the path that Fisk set up for her, Maya finds the peace she’d been looking for since her mother’s death. This is also reflected in her clothing; when her prosthetic leg is damaged during a sequence involving a train, she receives a new one courtesy of shop owner and grandfather figure Skully (Graham Greene), which is engraved with symbols from Choctaw lore. Likewise, the outfit Maya sports in the final episode is based on Indigenous wear, further solidifying the link between her heritage and her powers.
Wilson Fisk Survives ‘Echo,’ But May Be a Bigger Threat in the Future
While Fisk does survive the events ofEcho, he comes out the worse for wear due to Maya rejecting him as well as being forced to confront his traumatic past. In true MCU fashion, his future lies in a mid-credits scene. As Fisk flies back to New York via his private plane, news about New York’s mayoral election is playing — which he listens to intently.This hints that Fisk plans to run for mayor, similar to current comics canon. For a time, Fisk was the Mayor of New York and attempted to actually turn over a new leaf. That changed when he learned that his archnemesis Daredevil had set a plan in motion to make people forget he was Matt Murdock — and Fisk was on that list. Enraged, Fisk used his mayoral powers to outlaw vigilante activity in New York during theDevil’s Reignminiseries fromChip ZdarskyandMarco Checchetto.He even relaunched the antihero group known as the Thunderbolts to hunt down heroes who broke the law;the Thunderbolts are slated to make their MCU debut next year.
Having Fisk in such a prominent position would be a great shakeup from how he was portrayed in the Netflix version ofDaredevil, and may be a major plot point inDaredevil: Born Again.It also ties into plans to make him a more prominent antagonist, according toEchoproducerBrad Winderbaum. “I can’t say too much, only that, as a chapter in Wilson Fisk’s life, this is a crucial one and sets the stage in some remarkable ways for what’s coming next,“Winderbaum told ScreenRantprior toEcho’s release, while also hyping Fisk up as the “Thanos of the street-level corner of the MCU.” Making Fisk mayor would definitely be a way to pit him against various heroes — and could once again draw Maya into his orbit, especially if she ever returns to New York.
Echois currently available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
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