The first MCU content for 2024 has come and gone like a flash.

Echo, based on the character of Maya Lopez, first introduced in the Hawkeye mini-series released in 2021, debuted all at once for fans to stream the 5-episode event. This new format is the first of its kind and while debated, it was an interesting take for this series. Additionally, due to the change, we produced two podcast episodes, the first covering Episodes 1-3 and the second covering 4-5, while Katie also did additional episode-by-episode reactions on TikTok @katiefaust5271. Catch up with all of those to get more in-depth coverage, as we will be taking the time in this blog post to talk more about some of the broader, series-wide topics.

Exploring Maya Lopez and Kingpin’s Relationship

The most prominent aspect of the entire Echo series rests on the back of Maya and Kingpin’s difficult and complicated relationship with one another. In Hawkeye, we were able to see how Maya came to grow up with Kingpin as an uncle to her, yet Echo gave us an even better understanding of how Maya ended up there in the first place. We’ll get to Maya’s relationship with her family, but understanding how Maya was ripped from one life she knew and placed into a completely different one changed everything for her. And being Kingpin’s partial weak spot is quite an interesting life to get introduced into.

The series began by filling in the blanks of the times in Hawkeye where we weren’t necessarily following Maya and her story and instead were following Clint and Kate as the main characters. Yet it was a great touch to add to Maya’s part of the story at the beginning of the Echo series, as we could see how her father’s death affected her and how Kingpin took clear advantage of that pain. While Maya already had clear fighting skills, he made her into a weapon, unleashing her to do his bidding while he turned it into helping her clear her rage over her father’s death, which was his fault, to begin with. We knew from Hawkeye that Maya shoots Kingpin when she turns against him, and the Echo series did an impeccable job at showing how complicated that relationship remained even after that.

I think the best episode to study the relationship between Maya and Kingpin is Episode 4, where we see Kingpin trying to win her back to his side. While the relationship is clearly strained, he still believes he can win her back by supposedly giving her everything she ever wanted. For Kingpin, Maya is the closest family he has, and while he believes they share that sentiment, we see through the first 3 episodes that Maya has other family who love her. She doesn’t need to cling to Kingpin the way he wants her to and the way he believes she would. When Maya finally severed the tie by not showing up at the plane, we saw Kingpin do what he does best, and go straight for her family and her people to try and not just make Maya pay, but to make her be alone again just like him. He wanted to make her need him again, although she clearly outgrew him and his violence that has seemingly gotten everyone she loves either killed or almost killed.

Maya Returns to Her Roots

The other half, or the b-plot, if you will of Echo was Maya returning to Oklahoma and the family that she has there. It’s interesting to see this other half of her, as in Hawkeye, we were led to assume Maya’s always lived in the city and had always had Kingpin in her life. Obviously, we see this isn’t true, as we get more background on her childhood throughout the show. We meet Maya’s mother, who dies in a car crash that could have been meant to take out her father and it also teaches us that in the show, this is when Maya becomes an amputee. We also meet Bonnie, who, until her mother’s death, is a cousin she is being raised with like a sister. Their relationship is what leads us through Echo as a whole.

Even though Maya has clearly changed and is no longer the unassuming little girl, the series focuses on her trying to figure out her place in the world, including within her family. She’s been away from them for roughly 20 years and holds her own issues with them, along with likely the pain of knowing not to get too close to them now. Maya was always taught to keep people at arm’s length, to begin with by Kingpin especially, but it likely doesn’t help that she fears retaliation on them by him, as she clearly should. Luckily, none of her family members bit the dust in the series, although several times it was highly believed that someone wouldn’t make it.

In the end, Maya finds peace within her family. Whether this is a permanent fix (more on that soon) or more of a temporary one, she has been able to mend her relationships. And more importantly, she can now feel wanted for more than her capabilities or the fact she can be looked at as a weapon. Reuniting with her family is what finally gave her the strength to break away from Kingpin permanently, at least in my opinion. It was an interesting take, to show Maya’s trajectory in life through the strange relationships she’s been forced to have with two different families, both her biological and Kingpin. Yet, it worked beautifully for the sake of the story and for understanding who Maya is and where she may stand in the future.

Powers Enter the Mix

Maya is known primarily in the comics for her ability to mimic others in a fight and also to just be a totally amazing fighter on her own. About half of the series gave us that before we were introduced to a new power set that had been rumored before the show’s premiere. Maya now has entered the mystical realm, gaining the ability to connect to her female ancestors and use their strategy, cunning, ferocity, and love and channel them into an enhanced ability. Now, personally, we would have rather have had a street-level fighter who remained a street-level fighter, especially one of this caliber. However, it doesn’t appear this is a temporary gain and it’s going to stick around and possibly get bigger, so get used to it.

The story behind Maya’s new ability is amazing, even though we don’t love the actual powers themselves. Visiting not just her heritage and her prior life, but learning about how history culminates into essentially having all her female ancestors backing her up at once is a really cool take on it. I’m not sure we’ll see more stories of her ancestors unless we get a Season Two, which hasn’t been ruled out yet but seeing a few parallels between Maya’s fighting and the actions her ancestors have done was amazing. If there is one thing the MCU has done very well over the years, it’s cultural representation and again, if Maya had to have any sort of powers, I’m 100% on board with how they executed them and their origin.

What’s Next For Maya and Kingpin?

While Maya’s future was left rather ambiguous to the audience, Kingpin’s might be a little more clear due to the only end credit scene in the series. A beaten Kingpin is on his private flight back to NYC when he hears on the news that the NYC Mayor Election has been disappointing to the people of the city. The most important line is that there is still time and that the people want a fighter, in which we see Kingpin perk up. Clearly, this is meant to set up the Kingpin for Mayor of NYC storyline, which we will likely see span a couple different projects. My favorite running theory that I’ve had is that Daredevil: Born Again may have the election and the actual run for Mayor as a huge part of its plot, culminating with Kingpin being elected. I then think either an Echo Season Two or Spider-Man Four could fit perfectly in starting off the official Mayor Kingpin storyline.

As mentioned, Maya’s future was left ambiguous. She didn’t get on the plane to go back to NYC, she didn’t ride on her bike there. She stayed with her family, at least for the time being, in Oklahoma. Yet, I mentioned the possibility of a second season, something members of the team have said they would love to do, and of course, Maya is still a fairly prominent character in Daredevil storylines and a huge part of specifically this Kingpins. We know she will return and right now I hope it will be in Born Again. If we don’t see her there, there’s a high probability that until/if she gets a second season, we might not see Maya for a good while.

Image: “Echo Marvel”, Kyle Lamar Rice, RollingStone