Alaqua Cox Reflects On Echo & Shares Hopes For Her MCU Phase 5 Future

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Echo follows Maya Lopez after the events of Hawkeye, when she shoots Kingpin and flees in the wake of discovering his betrayal. As she heads to her hometown in Oklahoma to reconnect with her roots and hide out, she reflects on how Kingpin shaped her life, setting her down a violent path. However, no longer able to hide from her past of the man who played such an integral part in her life, Maya fully steps into the role of hero, reclaiming her title as Echo as she fights against Kingpin and his stranglehold over her.

Echo brings a gritty, grounded story to the MCU that sheds light on Maya’s origins, including how she became the villain, facing off against Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in Hawkeye. The series shows how growing up with Kingpin and his influence sent her down a violent path, but as she learns more about her family and heritage after being betrayed by Kingpin, she grows into a hero in her own right even as she must face her demons. Echo taps into a more street-level story. It also sets up interesting throughlines for the MCU to continue with Maya, Daredevil, and Kingpin.

Screen Rant caught up with Echo star Alaqua Cox. She discussed both the importance and pressure of representation in playing Echo. Cox also shared her hopes for her MCU future, including the villain she wants to fight and what heroes she hopes to cross paths with. Cox also reflected on her MCU journey, from the audition process to leading her own series. (Note: This interview was conducted with the help of an ASL interpreter.)

Alaqua Cox Reflects On “Acting Alongside A Top Tier Actor” In Echo

Cox is new to acting and jumped into the deep end first as a villain in Hawkeye then leading her own MCU series. She reflected on this journey, including how she collaborated with Echo series creator and directors to shape the character and used her past work to help with her stuntwork. Cox also shared how she thinks Maya will feel about Kingpin’s plans for the future.

Screen Rant: When you first auditioned for the role of Echo in Hawkeye, how much did you know about the character? Did you know that the character was going to get her own spinoff?

Alaqua Cox: I was not aware of Echo when I got the role of Echo. I found out that I was getting my own show in the middle of filming Hawkeye. I didn’t really know too much about Echo until they told me, and I was like, “Oh, gosh. I better study.” I read a little bit of the comic book, but I worked a lot with the director, and we developed her character a lot. We studied lines throughout the entirety of the process. But yeah, I’m very grateful for all the support from my coworkers that I got along the way of portraying Maya or Echo.

With your experience in stunt training and as a personal trainer, did that help you with your stunts as you took part in so many fight scenes and action sequences?

Alaqua Cox: That absolutely helped me big time when it came to the stunt work. I had stunt training about five days… Before we started filming and pre-production. Once production started, I had no time, but we had about five days a week. They helped me so much with the choreography. They helped me learn new fighting styles, jabs, kicks, cool kinds of combos and kicks. The choreography was hard to memorize, especially with Daredevil scene. It was such a long choreography,. But I wish I could say I did every single stunt, but I did do most of them, but it was very fun.

Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie are incredible directors of the Echo series. What did their directing style add to Echo?

Alaqua Cox: Both of them are pretty hands-on directors, which is so great because I really love that hands-on type of visualization and explaining how scenes are portrayed in their head. The directors both made sure that the signs were visible in frame when we were filming, made sure that the scenes, the camera was too close so that you would missed the sign language, and they both really wanted to understand the deaf culture aspect of how important it was to have the signing in frame. So I really liked their signing style and they were very educated in the art of directing. So it was really great having them.

Echo brings a new dimension to the MCU. Can you share a scene or moment from the series that you’re particularly proud of?

Alaqua Cox: Oh, my gosh. There’s so many moments to be proud of. I’m definitely proud of the intense scenes that I have with Vincent [D’Onofrio] because he is just a top tier actor. And working with him in front of the camera is just an amazing, emotional, intense experience and definitely challenging. But I made it through acting alongside a top tier actor, but I think that’s something I learned about myself that we can do it.

What did you want to bring to that role that went beyond the page?

Alaqua Cox: I wanted Maya to open up more to her family and her community. She’s so closed off, insecurely closed off. I want her to open up to her family. I wish that she could show that more, especially, she had to be so stoic the entire time in Echo. I understand that that’s her character. She’s gone through so much. But I think it would be nice to bring some more smiles to her.

How does Maya feel about the Kingpin, a guy that she knows is a murderer, being in a position of political power? Do you think she could let that go?

Alaqua Cox: No. I don’t think that she would like that idea. I think it’s a terrible idea. He’s such a dirty crook. He’s got a lot of things going on. I don’t think him running for a position of political power would be a good idea.

Representation In Echo Is “So Much Pressure,” But Alaqua Cox Is Proud Of it

Echo is a groundbreaking series for the MCU with representation for the deaf, Indigenous, and amputee communities. These are not brushed off, with Maya’s culture being an integral part of her character and the story of Echo as a whole. Cox reflects on the responsibility of portraying Echo, including the pressure she felt in this role.

The series is groundbreaking in its representation of Indigenous culture and the deaf community. What does it mean to you to be at the forefront of that representation, especially being a part of a giant franchise like the MCU?

Alaqua Cox: Oh, my gosh. I still feel like it’s so much pressure because honestly, I’m such a new actor and now I have a lot of pressure going on in my head too because I have a lot of communities to advocate for. I have the amputee community, the Indigenous community, the deaf community and being a woman and a Native American as well. So I’m so excited to be able to have this platform to open doors for more people to come in and hopefully that will be able to allow us to tell our own stories. We can invite diversity into Hollywood more. This is just the start of an amazing journey.

Can you talk about working with the Choctaw Nation to really bring the series of Echo to life and show that representation on screen for the MCU?

Alaqua Cox: I loved working with them. It was amazing how the MCU was so open and willing to collaborate with the Choctaw Nation. I remember the first day of filming, the very, very first day. It was during the spring. And I remember it was a cool breeze. It was a very nice spring day because it was eventually going to get so hot and sweaty in Georgia. I had so many layers I was going to be acting in.

But the first day of filming, we had the Choctaw Nation come and have a ceremony and they had a ginormous blessing with their dances and their cultural dances and traditions, and they also had a blanket ceremony as well. And it was just a beautiful blessing to have on the first day of production. We also were able to show the representation with their beadwork in the superhero costume.

We collaborated with them on everything, on their language. We invited Choctaw consultants to make sure that their language was pronounced correctly when it was used on screen. And really the collaboration was just so authentic and it was very cool to see that.

How do you hope Echo influences perceptions and conversations around diversity and inclusion?

Alaqua Cox: I hope that the show is just a starting point for Hollywood and people to say, “Oh, my gosh. This is very different than any other show we’ve seen. It has ASL in it. There’s an amputee that’s represented in it, all these other diversities.” And hopefully they can look at me and, I don’t know, we’ll have a breakthrough of diversity in other roles in Hollywood. I think that would be great.

Maya Lopez embodies resilience, strength, and complexity. How did you relate personally to Maya? And how did playing her impact you?

Alaqua Cox: She is definitely very resilient, and I just learned so much about her as a character. We both have that resilience. Her childhood, of course, is very traumatic and complicated. She was taken from her biological family in Oklahoma and was with her adopted uncle in New York City. She had a terrible, dangerous life of crime in that moment in her life too.

So she really went through a lot, but she has that resilience that she needs. I feel like I have that toughness as well. I am an amputee and I had a lot of surgeries related to my amputation as well. So I spent a lot of time in the hospital growing up as a child, and that was tough, but I did have a very loving and supportive family at home. And that’s where my resilience comes into play, and I think that I can relate that with Maya.

Can you talk about some of the details that eagle-eyed MCU fans may have not caught that are a part of that costume?

Alaqua Cox: Yeah. Absolutely. I remember seeing the details. There’s a sun detail and diamond patterns on the costume, and those are representative of the Choctaw culture as well. It has to do with growth and culture and change. And the diamonds mean… There’s a diamondback, the rattlesnake.

Those are representative, the rattlesnake and how they would very much respect the rattlesnake and how powerful of a creature it is and it’s venom that it has. So they look at that creature as a very powerful animal. So those little details that it puts, those diamonds, the sun, the beadwork, that’s all integrated into the costume and all made by Indigenous authentic artists.

All those little details really means a lot. I probably had eight to 10 costumes fitting for that costume alone. And I remember feeling amazed every time I put the costume on when we added more and more layers. It was just so amazing and cool.

Alaqua Cox Shares Her Hopes For Echo’s MCU Future

The MCU is famous for its tapestry of interconnected stories following characters’ journeys across multiple movies and television series. Daredevil and Kingpin will continue to be prominent players in the MCU, with Daredevil: Born Again on the horizon. Echo not only sets up Kingpin’s future, but a number of possibilities for the titular villain turned hero as well.

What are you hoping to explore with the character of Maya Lopez in the future of the MCU?

Alaqua Cox: I would hope that she’s able to cross paths with other superheroes as well, for example, the Avengers, like you mentioned. That would be a dream come true if she was able to meet any of the Avengers or even if she was in Daredevil [Born Again] season 2. We just don’t know. I’d like to see any of those possibilities.

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One of the most important dynamics in Echo season one is her dynamic with her grandfather, Henry, and Bonnie. What would you like to explore with those relationships going forward if we get a season 2?

Alaqua Cox: Maya’s family, I wouldn’t mind if they all went to New York City and all got revenge on those people that have hurt them and also used the powers of the ancestors that they have. I think that’d be cool storyline.

Have you spoken with anybody in Marvel about potentially coming back for Phase 5 or beyond?

Alaqua Cox: I can’t say much about it, but I’m really, really hoping it’s going to happen.

From your perspective, what’s more likely to happen, Echo showing up in Avengers 5 or Echo showing up in Defenders season 2?

Alaqua Cox: Oh, my gosh. I don’t know about that. It would just be a dream come true to be involved in either, so hopefully either.

Are there any villains in particular that you’d like to see Echo match up against?

Alaqua Cox: Probably the Green Goblin. That would be pretty cool. I think I’d like to face the Green Goblin.

Hawkeye and Echo showed Cox’s skills as an actor, highlighting her action, dramatic, and at times comedic chops. She held her own with MCU veterans including Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Jeremy Renner. While she has many hopes for Echo’s future in the MCU, Cox also shared what she wants to explore as an actor beyond the MCU.

Even outside of the MCU, what bucket list roles would you want to play next?

Alaqua Cox: I usually, of course, have played bad guy roles, and I think I want to explore different options of different roles. I love horror. I’ve always loved horror movies growing up. So I wouldn’t mind being in a horror thriller movie kind of role. So I think that would be on my bucket list of my next roles.

About Echo

The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She 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.

Check out our other Echo interviews here:

• Brad Winderbaum
• Vincent D’Onofrio
• Alaqua Cox
• Sydney Freeland
• Richie Palmer
• Chaske Spencer & Devery Jacobs
• Amy Rardin

Source: Screen Rant Plus