Echo Director Says Character Will Ditch ‘Lame’ Comic Book Powers

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Echo Director Says Character Will Ditch ‘Lame’ Comic Book Powers

The upcoming Disney+ series Echo will showcase the character more in-depth following her debut in Hawkeye. According to director Sydney Freeland, this will include ditching some powers from the comic version of Echo.

Speaking to Variety, Freeland briefly touched on what to expect from the upcoming five-episode series. While she didn’t go too in-depth on what type of powers Echo will have in the series, Freeland did note that they might be a little different than what fans of the comics might expect.

“Her power in the comic books is that she can copy anything, any movement, any whatever. It’s kind of lame,” Freeland said. “I will say, that is not her power. I’ll just kind of leave it at that.”

In the comics, Echo possesses photographic reflexes that allow her to essentially copy other people’s movements, similar to that of Marvel character Taskmaster. The “power” isn’t strictly tied to fighting styles, however, as in various points in the comics, Echo has shown the capability to copy something like Bullseye’s expert aim simply by watching him.

However, it seems as if the show is set to go a different route in explaining how Lopez is so gifted.

What is Echo about?

“The five-episode streaming event spotlights Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal empire,” reads the new synopsis. “When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. All five episodes will stream on Jan. 10 on both platforms. They’ll be available on Hulu until April 9. This marks the first Marvel Studios series to drop all entirely bingeable episodes at once.”

Echo will feature the return of Cox as she reprises her role as Maya Lopez after debuting in last year’s Hawkeye, where it was revealed Maya had a long history with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin. Joining D’Onofrio are Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Zahn McClarnon (Fargo), Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs), Cody Lightning, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, and Graham Greene.

Marion Dayre is the lead writer for the Hawkeye spin-off. The writers’ room also includes Bobby Wilson, Rebecca Roanhorse, Shoshannah Stern, Josh Feldman, Kaitlyn Jeffers, Steven Paul Judd, Jason Gavin, Ken Kristensen, Dara Resnik, and Jessica Mecklenburg.