‘Echo’ Star Alaqua Cox Discusses the Pressure of Marvel and Proving the Critics Wrong
Alaqua Cox broke a lot of ground in Marvel Studio’s latest streaming series, Echo.
The Hawkeye spinoff saw Cox reprise her role as Maya Lopez, a former leader of the Tracksuit gang and a high-ranking member of Kingpin’s underworld cartel.
Photo: Marvel
A Series of Firsts for Marvel
Echo marked the first time that a Marvel series was led by an Indigenous actor, as well as one of the first deaf leads that the franchise has cultivated.
For Cox, being the one to take that step was “surreal.”
Photo: Marvel
“It’s a huge step for Hollywood to be able to include this authentic representation of a deaf person. I’m portraying a deaf person, being a deaf person,” Cox, a Menominee/Mohican, told Yahoo Entertainment through an ASL interpreter, “and an Indigenous person, being an Indigenous person. So ‘surreal’ is the only word I can think of.”
Not only did Echo break down barriers with the characteristics of its lead, but it was also the first time that Marvel Studios created a series with a TV-MA rating.
Marvel Needed Success
After the failures of Secret Invasion and The Marvels, the studio needed a win with Echo. It was a pressure that Cox revealed that she felt.
Photo: Marvel
“I definitely felt the pressure, absolutely,” Cox said. “But with the help of people on set and from Marvel themselves, they said, ‘You’re going to do so great.’”
In the end, Marvel’s faith has paid off. Echo has been well received by critics and fans alike and even managed to premier at the top streaming spot on both Disney+ and Hulu.
Picture: Marvel
“I didn’t even know that until [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige himself texted me that night and said, ‘Hey, congratulations on hitting No. 1 on Hulu and Disney+,’” Cox said. “I wanted to throw my phone across the room because that’s how excited I was.”
Ignoring the Critics
Still, as with any major release these days, the debut of Echo stirred controversy on social media. Cox, who is an Indigenous amputee, said she avoids looking at social media posts about the series.
Photo: Marvel
“If I go through any of the comments sections, that is a bad habit of mine,” she said. “I will get lost in it.”
While some commenters derided the live-action Echo as “woke,” Cox says that are misguided.
“I think they’re definitely wrong,” Cox said of the criticism. “They’re just not used to seeing a person of color and a person with a disability being a lead role in a movie or a TV show.”
Photo: Marvel
She added, “I’m hoping that we can change the dynamic and the perspective of that and more persons of color and people with disabilities, can get these lead roles in the future.”
Echo is now streaming on Disney+.
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