Marvel’s “Echo,” which premieres Tuesday on Disney+ and Hulu, ranks as the first adult Marvel show with a TV-MA rating. It was born from the character of Maya Lopez/Echo, played by Alaqua Cox.
Previously Maya was seen in Marvel’s Disney+ series “Hawkeye.” Enigmatic and mysterious, that changes with “Echo” where her past, her family, her roots are revealed.
Maya, Cox said in a virtual global press conference, “is a deaf indigenous person who has a biological family and an adopted family. She’s trying to reconnect with her family after finding out that her adopted family, her uncle specifically, betrayed her.
“She went back to reconnect with her biological family and try to rediscover a more complicated and deep life. As she rediscovers family I’m hoping that she can learn — and we can all learn — how she rediscovered family.”
The similarities between actor and character are strong.
“We’re similar,” Cox acknowledged. “We both have childhood trauma that we’re raised with. It was different, of course for each of us.
“For example, I grew up — I am an amputee — and went through many different kinds of surgeries as a child. That, in a sense, made me a warrior. Maya had the death of her mother and all these tragic events in her life.
“So we both have different traumatic experiences. It makes us very similar in a way because we’re both warriors. We’re tough, and we’re badass. I believe that’s how we’re the same.”
Breaking bones, smashing enemies, “Echo” is action. Intense action.
“Luckily, I grew up playing different kinds of sports,” Cox said. “Plus, I have an older brother who helped me become more of an athlete, because he’s very much an athletic person. We’re about a year and a half apart, so we wrestled growing up. That toughened me up.
“Then, when I did get the role, I had a stunt training team. For five days a week I would go to training — and it was a lot.
“I learned so much as well. Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of stunt specific things in sports, so stunt training was a whole new world to me. I was able to learn choreography, jabs, fights and those specific moves.
“That was fun and very challenging as well, the greatest part of the project. It was a fun journey for me.”
Maya is again pursued by crime boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). “This is my version of what they did in the original comics,” D’Onofrio said. “It has a grittier feel and it’s a more emotional story with me and Alaqua’s Maya.”
“Echo” streams on Disney+ and Hulu Jan. 9