Echo, played by Alaqua Cox, made her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Disney+’s Hawkeye. In the series, she was the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia working for Kingpin, and she’s back in her very own series titled Echo, which is now available on Disney+.

All 5 episodes of Echo are now available, and it follows the titular character as she plans to throw a wrench in Kingpin’s operation. Along the way, she revisits her past as well as discovering ancient ancestral powers.

Alaqua Cox has a lot in common with her character, and the actor shares similarities between the two during the Echo press conference.

“Well, we’re similar. I was raised with some trauma,” Cox said. “We both have childhood trauma, of course, that we’re raised with. And it was different, of course. For example, I grew up, as you know, I am an amputee. So, I went through many different kinds of surgeries as a child. And so, that made me a warrior, in a sense. And her, Maya, she had the death of her mother, and all these tragic events that happened in her life. So, we both have different traumatic experiences. So, it kind of makes us very similar in a way because we’re both warriors, and we’re tough, and we’re badass, and I believe that’s how we’re the same.”

The Echo series is filled with gritty action, and Cox had help from her brother through life training as well as a dedicated team for the series.

“Luckily, I grew up playing different kinds of sports as well,” she said. “Plus, I do 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. So that toughened me up.”

The training for the actor was intense, but she had a lot of fun doing them for the show.

“And then, when I did get the role, I had a stunt training team,” Cox added. “About five days a week I would go to the training, and it was a lot. I learned so much as well. ‘Cause growing up in sports, there wasn’t a lot of stunt specific thing in sports, so stunt training was a whole new world to me. And I was able to learn choreography, jabs, fights, and those specific moves, and that was so fun, and very challenging as well. But that was the greatest part of the project. So, it was a fun journey for me.”

About Echo

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. “Echo” also stars Chaske Spencer (“Wild Indian,” “The English”), Tantoo Cardinal (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Stumptown”), Devery Jacobs (FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” “American Gods”) and Cody Lightning (“Hey, Viktor!” “Four Sheets to the Wind”), with Graham Greene (“1883,” “Goliath”) and Zahn McClarnon (“Dark Winds,” FX’s “Reservation Dogs”).

Episodes of the series are directed by Sydney Freeland (Navajo) and Catriona McKenzie (Gunaikurnai). Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre and Jason Gavin (Blackfeet). Co-executive producers are Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King (Seminole) and Jennifer Booth.

Featured image courtesy of Marvel Studios.