Marvel Studios unveils ‘Echo’ at Choctaw Day celebration

Choctaw Nation was chosen as the premiere screening location of Marvel’s upcoming superhero series, Echo, held in Durant on November 3 at the District Theater.

Marvel Studios screened the first two episodes of the upcoming series Echo during Choctaw Nation’s annual powwow.

The episodes were presented by director Sydney Freeland, who was joined by Seth Fairchild, Executive Director of Cultural Services for Choctaw Nation, for a Q&A conversation after the screening.

“It’s so exciting to be able to premiere Echo and it was extremely meaningful to myself to have this screening in Choctaw Nation.” She continued, “One of the things we’re most excited about is being able to portray the Choctaw culture hopefully in an authentic and exciting way.”

The series’ lead character, Maya Lopez, is Choctaw. Her culture, legends and history of the Choctaw tribe will be highlighted throughout the five episodes released January 10, 2024, exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu.

Lopez, aka Echo, played by Alaqua Cox, Cheyenne and Latin American, was first introduced in the 2021 television series Hawkeye. Her story continues in Echo, where the character has hope for a new life from her previous effort of obtaining justice for her father.

Sydney Freeland introduces her new show Echo at The District in Durant, Oklahoma.

Echo leaves the big city for her rural Oklahoma hometown to reconnect with her Native American roots, family and the community. She will be joined by Vincent D’Onofrio, portraying her “uncle”, Wilson Fisk (Daredevil), Zahn McClarnon as her father, and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock (Spider-Man: No way Home and She-Hulk.) Also appearing will be Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves), Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon), Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs), and Cody Lightning (Four Sheets to the Wind.)

Chief Gary Batton said on his Facebook page, “I was like a little kid because of getting to partner with Marvel and Disney to highlight our language, culture and history in a series called Echo that will be coming out January 10 on Disney and Hulu. Yakoke to Sydney Freeland, who was the director, and to Stephen Judd, who was a writer and is from Broken Bow, gave so much detail and attention and respect to make sure everything was represented and said correctly. Yakoke to all of the staff who helped them on the sets during the filming. Go check out ECHO on January 10!”

Chief Gary Batton is interviewed during the Echo red carpet event.

Choctaw Royalty pose for a photo on the red carpet.

Photos by Christian Toews

Official Trailer