Marvel debuts first deaf, Native American, amputee superhero

Marvel has debuted its very first superhero who is female, deaf, Native American, and an amputee. Echo, the main character in the spinoff miniseries of the same name, is played by Alaqua Cox, who is herself female, deaf, Native American, and an amputee.

All five episodes of Echo were released on Disney+ on January 9, and since then, they have received mixed reviews.

According to Marvel, "the origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior 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."

Cox, 26, originally played Echo in the 2021 Marvel series Hawkeye, and as the Hindustan Times reports, she found out during filming that she would be getting her own miniseries.
 

"I was like, 'No way. This is crazy. I can't believe it,' she said upon finding out the new, per the outlet, "and I didn't believe it at first. Of course, I was overwhelmed at first because that was my first time on set and I'm learning all these new things that I did not know before, and then they threw this at me and I came from a supporting actor to going number one on a call sheet."

Cox has said in numerous interviews that she never pictured herself a a superhero because all those she saw growing up were not disabled and not people of color.

"My hope is that with diverse communities like us, we can do anything," she told PTI, per the Hindustan Times. "I'm a disabled, deaf and indigenous person, and I have all these attributes, but now I'm a superhero. It doesn't matter how I am, what color I am, what disability I have, I can still achieve greatness."

At the time of writing, Echo has a score of 6.2/10 on IMDb with over 16,000 ratings. Of those, 2,400 gave it 10/10, while 1,900 gave it 1/10.