Marvel Studios’ streaming series Echo stands poised to be a trailblazing project in a number of ways. Not only will it be the first Marvel Studios project to feature a Native American lead and largely Native American supporting cast, but it also puts star Alaqua Cox, who is deaf and an amputee, in the spotlight making good on a wish she expressed during her time on Hawkeye to be part of the effort to “see more deaf and disabled role models to inspire the next generation.” Disney debuted footage of the series exclusively at D23 and though the show has completed production, rumors of issues behind the scenes have begun to swirl ahead of its slated release in the Spring of 2023.
If there are any issues, they would seemingly come as a surprise to Vincent D’Onofrio, who has a sizeable role as Wilson Fisk in Echo. Speaking recently at Salt Lake FanX, D’Onofrio praised the performance of Cox as Maya Lopez “I have to say that in Echo, which is coming, where you get to see Alaqua Cox’s performance…it was just phenomenal.” The actor then went on to tease the scenes that his Kingpin shared with Cox’s Maya Lopez, hyping specifically “the last few episodes” and saying of the show that “it’s going to be quite something.“
Before switching gears, though, D’Onofrio indicated that long-standing rumors that Echo would serve as a direct lead-in to his next MCU project, Daredevil: Born Again, are accurate saying, “And that leads into, of course, Born Again.” Again, whatever purported issues there are with the series, if any, D’Onofrio seemed entirely unaware of them at FanX, which was held in late September.
Like many projects, it’s possible that Echo may require some more work and might even find its release date bumped back a bit. However, considering its importance as the first superhero project centered around Native Americans and the connection to Daredevil: Born Again, it seems likely that Marvel Studios will find a way to remedy any issues with the finished product.
