Who Is Echo? A Marvel Comics Heroine (or Antiheroine)

Kingpin’s family took in Maya Lopez, better known as Echo. She is the adopted daughter of Kingpin and Vanessa Fisk and the sister of Richard Fisk. She is one of the secondary characters who has appeared in Daredevil.

Echo is one of the few hearing-impaired characters who is a superheroine in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The white handprint that covers most of her face distinguishes her. In addition, she possesses abilities and a personality that have made her a fan-favorite antagonist.

Who is Echo (Maya Lopez)?

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Echo is one of Marvel’s most prominent heroines. Despite having a simple human appearance, Echo has combat skills that make her stand above other human beings.

Her natural father is the notorious Willie Lincoln, who Kingpin killed. After murdering her father, Kingpin took Lincoln’s daughter, Maya Lopez, as his adopted daughter. Thus, this criminal’s opulence surrounded Maya.

The character is a woman with hearing impairment, which she has used to develop her other senses as Daredevil did. She is one of Marvel’s most powerful heroines.

Publication History

Echo first appeared in December 1999 in the pages of Daredevil #9. Writer David Mack and cartoonist Joe Quesada created her. Although she has been a villain several times, nothing could be further from the truth. 

Echo’s history shows her to be a heroine, yet her methods have been questionable. For this reason, she has been compared to anti-heroes such as the Punisher.

Throughout her life, Maya Lopez received different martial arts training. Her adoptive father was preparing her for what she had to face. Thus, it was not strange that Kingpin sent her to confront Daredevil.

But something unexpected happened when Maya met Matt Murdock; she fell in love with him. That made her rebel against Fisk, and in a fight, Maya shot him, and Kingpin lost an eye. She had no choice but to flee to the United States, returning sometime later under the name Ronin.

Under that alias, Ronin would carry out several battles alongside the New Avengers. Later, she allied with Moon Knight but died at the hands of Count Nefaria.

Strangely enough, Echo/Ronin’s death has been one of the most enduring deaths in Marvel Comics. The heroine only returned from the grave to take the power of the destructive Phoenix Force. This power is still with Echo today.

Echo’s fictionalized Biography

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The biography of the character has developed in several stages:

Echo

Echo received battle training, and the primary mission her adoptive father entrusted to her was to convince Matt Murdock of her innocence. As Maya believed him, she accepted the assignment without any problem. Neither Lopez nor Murdock expected that they would instantly fall in love.

Sometime later, Maya returned to wear the Echo costume to hunt Daredevil. She had her face painted in the same form of imprint her father left on her face before he died.

Maya Lopez trained herself by watching videos. With her ability to copy patterns, she picked up what she needed to defeat her biggest opponents, Daredevil and Bullseye. That made her one of Daredevil’s worst rivals.

Like her, Daredevil managed to develop his other senses. Because of this, he can move effortlessly in the dark. That forces Echo to take him to a place where his senses are useless.

In that fight, she defeats him and is about to kill him without realizing that Matt Murdock and Daredevil are the same person. Matt manages to warn Maya about who he really is. She, in revenge, chases and shoots Fisk in the face, blinding him and causing him to lose his empire.

Echo has no choice but to flee to the United States. What she lived and where she grew up was all a vile lie. That’s why she dedicated herself to searching for peace in her soul, trying to leave behind all the bad things that had happened to her.

Ronin and the Avengers

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When Maya returned after overcoming her identity crisis, she assumed the new identity of Ronin. This word in Japanese alludes to “Samurai Master”. At first, Echo/Ronin refused to join the New Avengers team not to tarnish the reputation of well-known superheroes. Later, however, he agreed.

His first mission focused on guarding Elektra in Japan. This dangerous assassin was rumored to be the leader of The Hand. At the end of the Civil War, The Hand resurrects Maya, like other pro- and anti-registration America.

That occurred after the fight with Electra, which ended in Maya’s death. This event was not fortuitous, nor did it happen in vain. On the contrary, Echo was held against her will to become The Hand’s assassin.

Several superheroes later rescued Echo, including Hawkeye, Power Man and Wolverine. Elektra was furious and sent the Hand after them.

The heroes were unaware that the Hand had brainwashed Maya. This event prompts Echo to stab Dr Strange, creating an ongoing fight against the New Avengers. Later, Doctor Strange releases her from her astral form.

World War Hulk

During the attack on the Sanctum Sanctorum, Echo tried to defend Rick Jones from Hiroim and Elloe. The Hulk group attacked them while attempting to capture Dr Strange. However, they were all defeated and captured.

Avengers/Invaders

When the events of the Invaders took place, Echo proved unable to control his emotions due to his deafness. That led to his eventual defeat against D’Spayre when he acquired the Cosmic Cube.

Secret Invasion: The Infiltration

When Hood’s criminal organization was successfully defeated, Echo remained on the team. Dr Strange sought the cure so she could leave her astral plane. While this happened, Echo stayed in the apartment rented by Samuel Stern.

Then, an unusual event occurred, a Skrull usurped Daredevil’s identity, which generated many doubts. In turn, Clint Barton declared to Maya that he was attracted to her, and they spent the night together.

Secret Invasion

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In Secret Invasion, Echo appears next to the New Avengers, who go to Savage Land to see a crashed Skrull ship. Several superheroes in old-fashioned costumes show up as the ship’s hatch opens.

Echo joins the Mighty Ones and the New Avengers in a battle against these superheroes who have emerged from the Skrull ship. But the combat suddenly ends when a dinosaur comes between them.

Later, Echo is knocked out when Spider-Woman supposedly poisons her and hits her against a tree. But Maya discovers later that Spider-Woman is another Skrull. In fact, she is nothing more and nothing less than the queen of that clan who led the invasion.

Because of this, Echo began to help other superheroes defeat the Skrull impostors. In this way, she led an attack in New York against the army of Super Skrulls, together with other villains and heroes.

The Heroic Age

In the Heroic Age, there was a team change in the New Avengers, and Echo was no longer part of it. So when Luke Cage and his wife Jessica decide to look for a babysitter, Maya responds to the offer. But they would reject her proposal because she was an Avengers member.

Moon Knight

In the fourth series of Moon Knight, Echo appears to save Marc Spector, who was in a strip club. She didn’t expect that saving Moon Knight would blow her cover.

That prompted Moon Knight to ask her to join him in fighting Kingpin of the East Coast. In addition, Spector wanted to invite her to dinner, showing that he really liked Echo. 

Upon attending the dinner, Moon Knight tries to kiss her, and she slaps him away. Next, Night Shift attacks them, and, in the fight, the police try to arrest the duo. Unfortunately, Count Nefaria, who wants to be the new Kingpin of the West Coast, murders the heroine.

Resurrection

Sometime later, strange circumstances occur that lead to Maya’s resurrection. Thus, she later joins the Daredevil team, helping to save New York from a sonic virus created by Klaw.

Captain Marvel

Echo helped Captain Marvel and her friends against the dreaded villain, Radioactive Man.

Enter the Phoenix

When the Enter the Phoenix crossover occurs, Echo and other superheroes and criminals are mysteriously chosen to decide the next host. Each is empowered with a spark of the Phoenix’s cosmic fire, which leads her to face Namor in underwater combat.

Faced with an obvious disadvantage, Namor defeats Echo, presumably eliminating her from the tournament. That causes her to lose some of her Phoenix power. Echo refuses with all her might to face defeat and die, which irresistibly draws the Phoenix to her.

This action makes Echo the new host of the entity, taking its power and that of the other participants. In revenge for the previous defeat, she savagely beats Namor.

That is how Maya declares herself as the new possessor of the Phoenix power. She is the New Thunderbird, becoming one with the entity. Jean Grey, the former host of the Phoenix, congratulates her telepathically and gives her advice on controlling the power granted.

Echo’s Powers and Abilities

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Maya Lopez was trained since she was a child. Therefore, it is not surprising that she is an Olympic-level athlete. Additionally, Lopez possesses photographic reflexes. That is, she can copy another person’s movements perfectly.

This ability has proven to be similar to that of Taskmaster. Therefore, for example, she can become a great artist just by watching someone play the piano. She is also:

• Expert in martial arts, dominating her opponents almost immediately.
• Highly skilled acrobat, being able to evade dangers with ease.
• Highly skilled dancer.
• A natural lip-reader.

Although she has learned to make her greatest weakness a strength, it is sometimes a drawback. She relies heavily on visual cues; therefore, she can be helpless in the dark.

The ability to read lips can be a hindrance, as she cannot take orders from people wearing a mask. She can also not follow orders from people who do not have visual contact with her when issuing the order or who keep a great distance from her.

Echo Other Versions

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In other versions, Echo has appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man, where she wears a costume on Earth-616. She seems to be shouting in a police station, “Who can be trusted?” which is the central plot line of the events in The New Avengers and Secret Invasion.

Versions of Echo in Other Media

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Different representations of Echo are present in:

Television

On television, Echo appears in a series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is played as an adult by Alaqua Cox and as a child by Darnell Besaw, including:

• Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, in episodes like “Agent Venom” and “The New Iron Arala”.
• 2021, Disney+ Hawkeye.
• 2023, Echo. The series is currently in full production at Disney+.

Video games

In video games, Echo is a playable character present in:

• Daredevil.
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
• Lego Marvel Avengers.
• Marvel Future Fight.
• Marvel Strike Force.

Echo, Heroine or Antiheroine?

Image: Marvel Comics

Echo is undoubtedly one of the most powerful superheroines in the Marvel Universe. She has excelled as a fighter, showing expertise in various combat techniques. In fact, she is one of the users of the Phoenix Force.

This character will undoubtedly gain a lot of relevance thanks to the Disney + series, which will bear her same name, Echo. With her appearance in the Hawkeye series, fans are eager to know this character’s story and to see her official entry into the MCU. We expect a promising future for this antagonist!

Featured Image Via Marvel Comics / Marvel Studios