Echo Interview: Chaske Spencer & Devery Jacobs On Maya’s Found Family In New MCU Show

Echo follows Maya Lopez in the aftermath of her decision to shoot Wilson Fisk at the end of Hawkeye. Now on the run, she returns to her hometown, Oklamhoma, after spending years away. Forced to reckon with her past, Maya will reconnect with her heritage and learn to embrace the community she lost touch with when she left for New York.

The series was created by Marion Dayre based on the Echo comics by David Mack and Joe Quesada. Sydney Freeland serves as an executive producer and director. Echo stars Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Zahn McClarnon, Cody Lightning, and Graham Greene, with Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox reprising their roles as Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, respectively.

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Echo: Cast, Story Details, & Everything We Know

Disney Plus has started development on Echo, an MCU spin-off of the Hawkeye series, featuring Native American martial artist Maya Lopez.

Screen Rant interviewed Echo stars Chaske Spencer and Devery Jacobs about the new Disney+ Marvel series. Spencer explained why his character isn’t thrilled to see Maya and broke down her arc of relearning what family means throughout the series. Jacobs discussed her character’s relationship with Maya and how their time apart has changed them, as well as what the series means to her.

Chaske Spencer & Devery Jacobs Talk Echo

Screen Rant: Chaske, Henry is Maya’s uncle and is still in the family business. Does he have any kind of guilt over her father’s death, and is he ready to see Maya?

Chaske Spencer: No, he’s not ready to see Maya. This totally took him off guard, and I do feel he has guilt because he brought them all in there to New York City. I feel like he feels responsible for how Maya turned out, and I don’t think he wants to see her because he has to look at his past. I feel like Uncle Henry’s constantly playing catch-up with Maya.

Devery, Maya is such a stoic badass throughout this series. However, when she’s around Bonnie, we really get to see her vulnerable side and her heart. Can you talk to me about how their dynamic changes throughout the series?

Devery Jacobs: I think that the relationship between Maya and Bonnie is so foundational to who Maya is. They were so close growing up; they were practically sisters. They even said so themselves, so when Maya was whisked away to Manhattan, it really fractured that relationship.

Through the series Echo, I think their relationship takes on a lot of different periods and evolutions. I think that there’s a lot of hurt and anguish and longing and missing between each other. Exactly like you said, there’s a lot of heart that really reveals to Maya probably who she could have been had she not left the res and had she not joined Fisk’s team.

Through the season, I think that Bonnie is also kind of heartbroken over who Maya’s become. She knew her as a young girl on the res, and now to see the hardened killer that she’s become, it’s pretty tough for Bonnie to understand who this person is now. But through the season, I think that Maya really reconnects with her family and unpacks what family means for her, and that includes that relationship with Bonnie.

I actually want to talk about the theme of family a little bit. We see her go from selfish in the way her perspective with family is, to becoming a lot more selfless.

Chaske Spencer: Well, I think with anything, when you’re coming home to family, you have no choice but to be your authentic self and you have no choice but to go through that character because there’s a lot of trauma in their past. I love the arc where she is that she comes as a hard, stone-cold badass, but you see the softer side through Bonnie and other situations and scenes that take place.

And I’ve got to say, Alaqua has so much range and she’s phenomenal. I want to make sure everyone sees this. You should go see this, she’s really, really good. Her first ever big thing, and she just held it together. She was a good leader for all of us, and I tip my hat to her and I have mad respect for her.

I love that this series takes place in a small town because it feels a lot more intimate. We’re in the town of Tamaha, Oklahoma, and it feels like a character itself. Can you talk about how that setting kind of adds to Echo?

Devery Jacobs: Absolutely. I think setting the film in Tamaha, Oklahoma really establishes the world of where Maya came from. Having the elements of the small town where everybody knows everyone’s business and everyone’s related to each other in some type of way is really reflective of Indigenous communities. It’s reflective of where I come from in my res growing up, and I think it just adds to the texture and the flavor of the world of that feeling of what it means to be raised on a reservation. I think it really adds to the world of Echo.

Could we talk about working with Doug Ridloff and getting the ASL in the visual language down for the show?

Chaske Spencer: Oh yeah, he was our savior. I loved working with him. I’m the type of guy that can complicate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so when I was working at it, he just made me really at ease and comfortable and be able to do this and give me the confidence. And Alaqua did too. I felt privileged to walk in their world. I’ve got to say that, without Doug, I don’t think we would’ve had that really authentic trail.

Speaking of authenticity, can you talk about what this series means to you?

Devery Jacobs: I think that being a part of Echo means so much. I think all of us have really wanted to be in the MCU for a long time, but for it to be with this project specifically, I think it just means that we get to tell stories from our communities. Ones that are good; that can stand alone on their own. I think so many people feel like this project might be checking boxes in some way. But it’s a great story, first and foremost, that happens to center around an indigenous Choctaw community and a deaf Indigenous protagonist.

What did you guys learn about yourselves through playing Henry and Bonnie?

Devery Jacobs: I think what I learned about myself portraying this was that I have a lot of hearing privilege, being somebody who walks around the world as a hearing person. I was also honored to be able to begin to learn ASL, and [I’m] still learning ASL and want to continue moving forward long after this project. I just felt really fortunate and got a glimpse into what it’s like for our deaf relations.

Chaske Spencer: I have to piggyback on that. We take a lot for granted, and it’s a privilege, like she said, to walk in their world and to be able to be their guest and to know that and to be humbled by it. [I’m amazed by] just how graceful Doug and Alaqua are, and the patience they had for us. They really are amazing.

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
• Richie Palmer
• Sydney Freeland

Marvel’s Echo

Alaqua Cox returns as the anti-hero Maya Lopez in Marvel’s Echo, one of the street-level MCU’s Disney+ series that take place during the Multiverse Saga. After her confrontation with Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in Phase 4’s Hawkeye, the titular Echo returns to her hometown and reconnects with her Native American heritage.

Release Date

January 9, 2024

Cast

Chaske Spencer , Zahn McClarnon , Graham Greene , Alaqua Cox , Cody Lightning , Charlie Cox , Tantoo Cardinal , Devery Jacobs , Vincent D’Onofrio

Genres

Crime , Superhero , Action , Drama

Seasons

1

Writers

Amy Rardin , Marion Dayre

Streaming Service(s)

Disney+ , Hulu

Franchise(s)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Directors

Sydney Freeland