While culture warriors line up to decry the latest Marvel series, Echo, on Disney+ as more woke nonsense or whatever, Audrey and I enjoyed finishing off its five-episode run last night.
I am barely familiar with the comics background of the main character, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), so the fact that her background and power suite differ from the source material is a non-issue with me. Having watched Hawkeye, however, I know the character is a former villain doing a face-turn and is a legit badass.
And I think a lot of the badassery comes from the actress herself, who, like Maya, is both deaf and an amputee with a prosthetic lower leg. This doesn't make any of her many fight scenes any less impressive, but the showrunners don't pinwheel from fight to fight. The bulk of the drama involves Maya's return to her former hometown in Oklahoma and her reluctant interactions with her estranged family and childhood friends.
Having Tantoo Cardinal and Graham Greene appear as her separated grandparents was a real treat, as was seeing nearly a half-dozen actors from Reservation Dogs (including Dallas "Willaim Knifeman" Goldtooth). The Choctaw history and mythology that make up a big part of the story are well-presented, and a pre-Columbian game of lacrosse captures both the athleticism and desperation of a sport designed to replace battles.
The real draw for this program for me, however, is the return of Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, better known as the Kingpin. The tension he brings to almost every exchange, and ability to transition so naturally from measured control to elemental rage makes him as captivating to watch now as when he was the heavy on Netflix's Daredevil.
For my money, there hasn't been a real Marvel knockout on streaming for me since WandaVision, and Echo doesn't quite reach that level, even if the new PG-13 rating adds significantly more edge to the fight scenes. But as a family and crime drama set in the MCU, it brings a lot to the table, and at five tidy episodes, it makes sure not to overstay its welcome.
Echo is a good romp filled with interesting characters who are not just pulled from the Central Casting pool and who all fit well under the street-level focus of this corner of the MCU, even if that street is in small-town Oklahoma. And if some people believe that a comic book show led by a deaf, physically disabled Native American female is anything but a cool thing, well, let them miss out, I guess.
The rest of you, be sure to hang around for the post credits scene that may hint at happenings in Daredevil: Born Again!
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