Disney Plus is already working on a spinoff of its upcoming series Hawkeye, according to a new report. The show will center on Maya Lopez, better known in the comics as Echo, who will be played by Alaqua Cox in the upcoming series. Marvel Studios is already putting together a writers room for this show, according to Variety, and the series will be directed by writers Etan and Emily Cohen. Hawkeye himself will debut later this year on Disney Plus, and will star Jeremy Renner reprising his role as Clint Barton, alongside Hailee Steinfeld as his archer partner Kate Bishop. The report cautions that it's unclear if the show will go to a series, and indeed, Marvel and the writers did not comment on the report. Still, we hope the report is the real deal based on Variety's track record.
Who is Echo in Hawkeye?
Interestingly, Maya Lopez is primarily known as a Daredevil character in Marvel comics, having been introduced by writer-artist David Mack in 1999 as Daredevil #9. Writer Brian Michael Bendis would later reintroduce her as the character in Ronin in his 2004 book New Avengers. She would later reappear in the excellent comic Daredevil End of Days. Ronin, by the way, is also a nickname used by Clint Barton: Clint's reappearance in Avengers: Endgame as an assassin stalking the criminal underworld is a clear reference to the character. Why is Lopez appearing in Hawkeye, then, and not in a future Daredevil project? We hope this is partly because Echo is deaf in the comics, and fans are speculating that this series will deal with Clint Barton's hearing loss, a notable arc for the character from the comics. Thus, this presents an ideal opportunity for further representation within the MCU.