The ECHO director talks about the show’s family theme, dives into the character’s ancestral history and more

The Marvel series Echo has gone through some development issues since it was announced, at one point almost being cut from the lineup, but it’s back on track and its creators believe the story is stronger than ever. Director and executive producer Sydney Freeland talked about the story and heart of the show in a recent series trailer event attended by ComicBook, where she confirmed that Echo is a villain and teased some of the series’ darker themes. The post-Avengers: Endgame The MCU era has featured many characters dealing with pain and trauma, and it seems like Echo it will not be a reprieve from those ideas.

Freeland shared:

“Thematically, this show is kind of an exploration of trauma, how we deal with it, how we deal with it, how it affects us, how we affect it, how it affects those around us. The theme of the show is very “, we’re trying to be street, we’re operating a little more at street level. These are not cosmic consequences. The fate of the universe is not at stake. This is the fate of the family. And what we’re going to see is sort of the beginning of the origin of not only Maya Lopez but also this sort of seismic fracturing event that’s going to affect her whole family and that we’re going to see have ripples and consequences throughout the entire show.”

Similar to Miss Marvel, Echo will also feature flashbacks to the titular character’s ancestors.

“Another thing that I haven’t mentioned so far is that we’re also going to have this dual approach to the series. There’s this family drama that drives everything, but then there’s this undercurrent, there’s kind of a fantasy side, which is that we’re going to visit Maya’s matrilineal ancestors… going back in time a little bit and that relates to these two things, this family drama and these ancestral stories that we’re going to tell to see go head to head.”

Freeland also spoke about the importance of representing both the deaf community and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. When asked what was most important to her while making Echo, she said:

“The authenticity, I think, well, I think it all started in the writer’s room was very important, it’s a multi-pronged approach. It’s like we had to have Native representation. It was a must. We had to have non-Native representation. hearing people. That was a must. So it really started within our writers, in our writers room. And then I think, obviously when I came on board, we tried to keep that energy alive, but we had native people everywhere behind the scenes and in front of the camera. But I think another important thing for us is the Choctaw, our partnership with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Early on in the process, once we had our pilot script, we took a trip. It was me and my department heads, and one of the coolest things was that none of them had ever been to a conference before.”

She continued:

“And I think what I realized in that moment was, which I think rarely happens in my experience of being portrayed in Native films, going to people and getting their cooperation, it was basically crickets at the side of the table and I basically said, “No, no, we’re not here to tell you what we’re going to do. We’re here to create a dialogue so we can get your input and create a more authentic portrait of the Choctaw people and culture.” Because again, speaking for myself as well, I’m Navajo, I’m not Choctaw, I don’t speak Choctaw, I don’t I’m from the Choctaw culture, but that was one of the most important things for us was creating a dialogue with the Choctaw Nation and getting their support.”

The series centers on Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) as he “struggles to reconnect with his Native American roots while balancing aspirations of a life of crime as the successor to Wilson Fisk’s brutal legacy (Vincenzo D’Onofrio) aka Kingpin. In the first episode we are introduced to Maya Lopez and her struggles.”

The series is also the protagonist Charlie CoxZahn McClarnon, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Cody Lightning, Devery JacobsAND Graham Greene.

Echo will be released on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10th. The show will leave Hulu on April 9.