The "Echo" Chamber - Another Marvel/BH6 Character Discussion
So for those of you who may not be in the know, Echo is dropping on Disney+ today. Now, a lot of people have varying amounts of Marvel Fatigue and may not be interested in this series, but I will actually be super interested in how they handle the protagonist herself.
Because you see, I'm a big fan of Maya Lopez.
Not necessarily the MCU one...
But the comic one.
So here's a little backstory into the superhero known as Echo.
One of her defining characteristics (whether it's a good thing or not) is that she is one of the few deaf characters in Marvel comics. What she lacks in hearing she more than makes up for in her fighting abilities, as she has the same ability as Taskmaster: to replicate any movement or action perfectly while only seeing it once. With that, she's one of the best fighters in the entire Marvel universe.
Her father worked for Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, and after being in his employ for a long time, Fisk kills him. William makes him promise to take care of her daughter, which he does. After shooting him, Maya finds him, but not before leaving the trademark handprint of his blood on her face.
Fisk would take Maya in, sender her off to a gifted school, and trained her with her skills. He would later convince her that Matt Murdock (Daredevil) was the one who killed her father. After several issues in the 1999 run of Daredevil, secrets would be revealed, and Maya would blind Fisk by shooting out both of his eyes.
And you though my version of Kate was crazy.
After going on a personal quest to find herself, Maya would later get recruited into the New Avengers on the recommendation of Matt. She used the guise of Ronon (a former alias of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye). Over the years, she played a central part in the New Avengers run and the events World War Hulk and Secret Invasion, being one of the first to discover that Jessica Drew was a Skrull.
Later, she moved to LA and went undercover before having to blow said cover to save Moon Knight. They teamed up together to take down the Kingpin of LA, but not before she was killed by Count Nefaria.
Of course, we know that being dead means literally nothing in the Marvel universe, and she shows up alive and well taking down another attempt of a villain taking over NYC.
For a while, Maya was out of action, not appearing in comics for almost five years.
And then?
Well.
And then entered the Phoenix.
"Enter The Phoenix" was a story arc in the 2018 Avengers run that saw heroes and villains alike in a "competition" to see who would wield the power of the Phoenix. I put that in quotes because it wasn't really much of a battle; the Avengers figured out there were other things going on.
But it didn't really matter in the end because guess who ended up with the power of the Phoenix?
Well it wouldn't be much of a Echo write-up if she didn't get it, now would it?
Alas, she wouldn't have the powers for long. After a less-than-well received mini-series (Echo: Phoenix Song), she helped the Avengers with the Multiversal Masters of Evil and the Council of Red. She used up the power to help heal the verses destroyed by the God Quarry.
And...that's kind of where we're at with her.
(Also, I know there were about twenty words and phrases that may not make any sense whatsoever, so you might want to take up the opportunity to read her comic before proceeding.)
Now I know what you're saying. "Jason, how on Earth are you going to make this about Big Hero 6? We already know you didn't think of her when you wrote that blog post about other potential team members you were thinking about."
...True.
But Riri, Nadia, America, Alison, and Cindy were not the only people that were considered.
They were just the only ones who got logos.
A Cheyenne deaf teenage girl with super memory powers and an ability to kick your butt sixty ways to San Fransokyo? Not to mention a (varying level of) permanent handprint on her face? You bet your patootie that she was on that list.
The problem, as many of the previous people were, was a way to integrate them into the mythos. Her main adversaries (Daredevil and Kingpin) are nowhere to be seen. Fisk is a NY guy too; unless he finds his way to SF for some reason, he wouldn't fit that well.
You'd have to find some other way to get her in. Who do we know that is a superb fighter that can also swordplay.
They also would probably be equally ruthless and not afraid of having to do what it take to achieve their goal.
...Oh.
Oh dear.
How about the daughter of a kingpin?
(Marvel's Echo airs all five episodes tonight on Disney+.)
