In the opening episode of “Echo,” we see that Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) also clashed with Daredevil (Charlie Cox) during her time in the employ of the Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). Both enter into an intense battle, which director Syndey Freeland and her team, including camerawoman Kira Kelly and stunt coordinator Mark Scizak, expertly stage with long shots and dynamic changes in perspective. It remains the duo’s only performance, but more was likely planned.
This is what the usually quite reliable MCU insider reports . According to his information ‘Daredevil’ Matt Murdock is said to be Maya’s local contact and informant in New York City, as she carries out her revenge plan against the Kingpin in her homeland. Appearances were filmed in three more episodes of the series, which was originally scheduled to last six to eight episodes.
- In one episode, after Maya bombed the Fisk weapons depot, Matt asked if people in New York knew she was behind it.
- In another episode, Maya wanted to know from Matt if she knew who wanted to take over his territories. The subplot about competition for Fisk was removed entirely.
- In another episode, Maya gave Matt the green light to rally his friends and destroy Kingpin’s empire in New York, while she keeps him busy in Oklahoma and wants to kill him for good.
If you’re wondering how Maya and Daredevil became a team, it should also be revealed in a flashback that Matt Murdock breaks her out of jail after she shot Fisk in the eye at the end of “Hawkeye.” Here both would probably have recognized their common goal and decided to work together.
Less Daredevil in “Echo” – there are probably good reasons for that
If the information is correct, the question naturally arises as to why Daredevil’s appearances were cut. There are probably several reasons for this. The enormous changes in both ‘Echo’ itself and especially ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ are clear.
Let’s start with the latter. Marvel decided to turn the upcoming series “Daredevil: Born Again” inside out during the long filming hiatus due to the Hollywood strikes. Much of the filmed material was tossed and a new showrunner was hired, ‘The Punisher’ author Dario Scardapane. In addition, it was also decided to bring back Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page and Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson from the Netflix ‘Daredevil’ series and to leave the previous events in the canon.
The Daredevil scenes in ‘Echo’ may no longer fit into this universe. Because there may not be room for Maya Lopez in the new version of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’. So reported also that the original ending of “Echo” would have Maya traveling to New York with her cousin Bonnie (Devery Jacobs) and then being part of “Born Again”.
But purely creative reasons for ‘Echo’ are also quite possible. According to insider reports, an initial draft of the series fell through with MCU mastermind Kevin Feige. In the end, not only was a lot of material removed, but some things were also re-recorded. A constant change of location to New York and a brief explanation of what Matt Murdock is up to may have blurred the focus. ‘Echo’ has now become a very simple series with only five episodes. The current version is free of all the baggage that comes with over-preparing for the entire MCU and numerous other series – save for a teaser for Kingpin at the end.
‘Echo’ can now be streamed in its entirety on Disney+. “Daredevil: Born Again” was originally scheduled to be released there in early 2024. After the reshuffle, the associated delays and the strikes, it is now impossible to predict when publication will take place. Because there is still a lot of filming to be done, a start date in 2025 is quite possible.