Marvel's first work of 2024 has been unveiled. This series tells the story of Maya Lopez, the villain of the Disney Plus series 'Hawkeye,' as she returns home to rediscover her identity as a Native American and rebuild her relationship with her family. It is also the first Marvel series produced by Disney Plus to be rated R (rated 15 in Korea).

The series begins by explaining Maya's reason for leaving her hometown. Maya, who hails from the 'Choctaw Nation' Native American tribe in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, had a normal childhood. She is as close as sisters with her cousin 'Bonnie,' and she is close with her uncle and grandparents. The problem was her father. Maya's father, who was involved in a local gang, was threatened by those who held a grudge against him, and Maya and her father fled to New York.

Twenty years later, Maya is on the run again. She has become an enemy of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), the underworld kingpin she has been relying on as her 'uncle' ever since she fled to New York. Maya returns to her hometown but doesn't search for her family. She didn't want to look back on the wounds she received when she first left her hometown. But Fisk's men close in on her, and she is forced to rely on her family for help.**

One of the most unique aspects of this series is Native American culture and sign language. The setting of 'Echo' is a Native American village in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and it shows the life of the people who live there. In fact, the lives of the people in this area are not extraordinary. Bonnie works as a firefighter, and Maya's grandmother 'Chula' (Tantoo Cardinal) is a mail carrier. Her grandfather runs a pawn shop and sells Native American handicrafts to tourists.

However, even this kind of appearance gives a very fresh feel because it is rarely shown on American TV series or movies. This is because Western TV series have typically depicted Native Americans as villains in Western films or as people who maintain a pre-modern lifestyle. Also, in this series, Echo learns a mysterious ability inspired by the Choctaw mythology. This ability becomes a device that helps Maya overcome her crisis and become 'Echo,' the title of the series, in the latter half of the series.

This series is as much about sign language as English and Choctaw. Alaqua Cox, who plays Maya, is deaf, and so is the character Echo in the series. Sign language is also used as a device to represent relationships with surrounding characters. Maya's family still signs for her, though they seem to be estranged from her. But Fisk, who calls Maya his family, never uses sign language himself.** He uses an interpreter or equipment that can interpret sign language.

It's also a pleasure to see the characters you've seen in other Marvel series again. Charlie Cox as Daredevil makes a very brief cameo appearance in the first episode. After Charlie Cox's Daredevil series was canceled in 2018 after season 4, there was a fear among fans that they might never see Daredevil again. (Some people may be watching this series just to see Daredevil.)

'Echo' skillfully unravels Lopez's story, but there are some drawbacks. The series has been promoted as 'Netflix-style Marvel.' From 2014 to 2018, Netflix released Marvel TV series featuring high-level violence. 'Echo' was a work that received many expectations that it would inherit the tradition of that series. However, the proportion of action in this series is surprisingly small. Echo is a series that focuses more on expressing the emotions and narratives of the characters than on action.** Viewers who expected action to be a central element of storytelling, as in 'Daredevil,' may be disappointed.