Echo director Sydney Freeland discusses the importance of that epic Daredevil fight scene – and Maya Lopez's Daredevil origins.
"It's interesting. There's a fight sequence in the first episode. When I read the script, what was great about this scene is that Maya Lopez, comes into the scene as a teenage girl, and she leaves the scene as a cold-blooded killer," Freeland tells GamesRadar+. "Conceptually we shot that as a oner because I wanted the audience to be able to see that transformation take place in real time."
The six-minute-long action sequence sees Echo enter the scene as a teenager in her first ever job for Kingpin – and exit the scene a ruthless, undefeated killer. The fact that she's able to hold her own against Daredevil, even as a teenager, speaks to her strength, agility, and general badassery.
"I wanted the audience to be able to put themselves into her shoes and hopefully experience things along with her," Freeland continues. "I think within that as well, we wanted to honor the origins of the Echo character in the comic books. And she first appeared in the Daredevil series in the late nineties. But in order to see how all that comes together, you have to watch the series."
The limited five-episode series takes place after the events of Hawkeye (and that wild ending scene with Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin) and sees Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) return to her hometown in Oklahoma where 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. If that Daredevil fight scene wasn't an indication, it's one of the bloodiest Marvel shows ever produced. And because it's the first to be released under Marvel's Spotlight Banner, there's no need to catch up on the MCU prior to watching the show.
Echo hits Disney Plus and Hulu on January 9 (in the UK that's January 10). Make sure you have your Disney Plus settings set to TV-MA. For more, check out our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows that you need to know about.
