Marvel's Echo Has Begun Production, See A First Look Image

Marvel president Kevin Feige's efforts to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe onto streaming have to be considered a thorough success, even if the specific shows have been somewhat hit or miss to this point. One recent highlight, however, turned out to be the Hailee Steinfeld-starring "Hawkeye" series. Anchored by the young actor's charismatic turn and perfectly paired with Jeremy Renner's older, gruffer, and delightfully grumpy Avenger/mentor, the Christmas-set adventure stood on its own as a perfectly entertaining introduction for one of Marvel's newer heroes. Of course, quite a few other franchise characters either made their grand returns (a certain hulking mob boss, for instance) or appeared for the very first time, clearly set up for future stories of their own down the line.

One such standout happened to be Alaqua Cox as the hearing impaired Maya Lopez, based on the comic book character who is also known as Echo. Even before "Hawkeye" made its way to Disney+, we knew that Marvel planned to make an Echo-centric spin-off series and now, that has taken a giant step closer to becoming a reality. Today, Marvel announced that production has officially begun on "Echo" as the series begins filming in Atlanta. To celebrate the milestone, the studio released a brand-new image of Cox (a Native American actor who is deaf in real life) suited up and ready to lead a series of her very own. Check it out below!

Introduced as a street-level antagonist on "Hawkeye," Alaqua Cox's Maya Lopez struggled to come to terms with her father's criminal legacy (even if he was unjustly murdered by Hawkeye in his post-"Infinity War" disguise as a rampaging Ronin) and her loyalties to her even more troublesome uncle, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio). The season finale featured Maya forging a new path all on her own, after appearing to take out the fearsome Kingpin once and for all in a final showdown (or did she?). In any case, D'Onofrio's name is nowhere to be seen on the press release for returning characters in the new "Echo" series. Instead, Marvel announced that Cox will be joined by Chaske Spencer ("Wild Indian," "The English"), Tantoo Cardinal ("Killers of the Flower Moon," "Stumptown"), Devery Jacobs ("Reservation Dogs," "American Gods"), and Cody Lightning ("Hey, Viktor!," "Four Sheets to the Wind"), with Graham Greene ("1883," "Goliath") and Zahn McClarnon ("Dark Winds," "Reservation Dogs").

Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie will both direct episodes of the series. The series is set to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2023. In the meantime, you can read the brief synopsis of "Echo" below.

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.