All five episodes of Echo are now streaming on Disney+, and the fifth and final chapter does include a brief-post credits scene which (presumably) lays the groundwork for Daredevil: Born Again.
In the season finale of Hawkeye, Maya Lopez put a bullet in Wilson Fisk's face. Believing her "Uncle" dead, the former mercenary waged war against the Kingpin's criminal operations, eventually forcing her to return to her hometown in an attempt to call in some favors and cripple his local businesses.
This ultimately leads to a confrontation between Maya and Fisk, who offers his former protégé a chance to return to New York and stand by his side once again. Lopez declines, which, as you might imagine, does not sit well with the volatile villain.
In the final episode, Kingpin captures his niece's family members, but before he can ruthlessly murder them, Maya is able to channel her ancestors' mysterious abilities (more on this later) to help them escape. She then grabs Fisk's head and seemingly manages to free him of the fear and hatred he has carried around for most of his life, which was manifested after he killed his abusive father in the Netflix Daredevil series.
The disorientated Kingpin leaves the scene, and in the post-credits sequence, we see him watching a news report about the NYC mayoral candidates in an upcoming election. As the reporter speaks, Fisk's face tells us everything we need to know: the Kingpin of Crime intends to run for mayor.
This was all-but confirmed by some Born Again set photos last year, but we didn't realize at the time that Fisk might actually have turned over a new leaf, and may genuinely be looking to make amends. We're sure there's still at least some of the old Kingpin in there, but the events of Echo certainly seemed to suggest that Maya successfully vanquished a few of her uncle's demons.
Echo will be the first project under a new banner known as Marvel Spotlight, which takes its name from an anthology comic book series that debuted back in 1971 and was the origin of beloved Marvel characters like Ghost Rider and Spider-Woman.
“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity," said Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum. "Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”
"Marvel Studios presents Echo in which Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) struggles to reconnect with her Native American roots while balancing aspirations tied to a life of crime as successor to the brutal legacy of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) aka Kingpin," reads the most recent synopsis. "In the first episode, we are introduced to Maya Lopez and her struggles."
In addition to Cox, D'Onofrio and Cox (Charlie), the show will also star Chaske Spencer as Henry, Tantoo Cardinal as Chula, Graham Greene as Skully, Cody Lightning as Cousin Biscuits, Devery Jacobs as Bonnie, and Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez.
The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez (Cox), whose ruthless behaviour 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.