Marvel’s Echo is a new Marvel Cinematic Universe series, which will premiere on 10 January 2023 on Disney+ Hotstar.

The synopsis reads:

Marvel Studios presents “Echo,” spotlighting Maya Lopez as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s criminal empire. When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. “Echo” stars Alaqua Cox (“Hawkeye”) as Maya Lopez, as well as Chaske Spencer (“Wild Indian,” “The English”), Tantoo Cardinal (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Stumptown”), Devery Jacobs (FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” “American Gods”), Zahn McClarnon (“Dark Winds,” FX’s “Reservation Dogs”) and Cody Lightning (“Hey, Viktor!” “Four Sheets to the Wind”), with Graham Greene (“1883,” “Goliath”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Hawkeye,” “Daredevil,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), who returns to the villainous role of Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.

Episodes of the series are directed by Sydney Freeland (Navajo) and Catriona McKenzie (Gunaikurnai). Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Stephen Broussard, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Victoria Alonso, Richie Palmer, Jason Gavin (Blackfeet), Marion Dayre and Sydney Freeland. Co-executive producers are Jennifer L. Booth and Amy Rardin.

Courtesy of Disney+ Hotstar, we were given the opportunity to interview two of the actors in Marvel’s Echo, Chaske Spencer (Henry) and Devery Jacobs (Bonnie).

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Can you tell us more about how you got the role in Echo?

Chaske Spencer: It was a call from Sydney (Sydney Freeland is a director and executive producer on Marvel’s Echo) and we talked about the character and what her plans were for the series. As soon as she mentioned Marvel, as soon as my manager mentioned Marvel, I was like, I’m down, I’m so down and then I got the call and I was even more excited. It just gave me a lot of excitement to be working on a show like this and the diversity, the indigenous, the ASL (American Sign Language), the everything. I knew it was something special and I wanted to be a part of it.

Devery Jacobs: I had seen the casting breakdown and had heard that the series Echo would be coming up. I had watched Hawkeye. I was a fan of the character, Maya Lopez, I had also been such a fan of Marvel projects before but there was no script. Obviously, it was like, super top secret, it’s Marvel after all, and so I had put myself on top for a self-tape audition, sent it in and ended up getting a few callbacks going down the line. But it was also chatting with Sydney Freeland, who is the series director and executive producer, one of the directors, and she had explained what the relationship was with Bonnie. She couldn’t get too much into the show at the time but knowing Sydney and her work, and having worked with her previously, I knew I wanted to be a part of it and the fact that Echo also features a deaf Native American superhero played by the brilliant Alaqua Cox, I was also just leaping at the opportunity.

How does it feel to be part of the MCU?

Chaske Spencer: It’s great, it’s awesome, it’s pretty cool.

Devery Jacobs: I feel like every actor, almost every actor wants to be part of a Marvel project, it’s marked so many inspiring moments growing up either with the comic books or watching the movies, to be able to be in this world where it’s larger than life is everyone’s dream but with this project specifically, getting to kind of take it back down and ground it, now that Echo’s part of the Marvel Spotlight banner. Meaning that it’s a standalone series, it’s a little bit more grounded and gritty, it doesn’t involve necessarily other universes. It’s more of a family drama, I think just brings it back home and makes it a really compelling story.

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Marvel Studios’ Echo, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Watching Echo, it’s my first time hearing Native American terms like Yakoke (thank you). I think I’m mispronouncing it. (laughs)

Devery Jacobs: Yeah, you got it. (laughs)

Why do you think the proper representation of Native Americans and the Indigenous, as seen in Echo, is important?

Chaske Spencer: Because I think that for a long time, we haven’t had that. It’s just very recently that we’ve been able to get people behind the camera, it hasn’t been that long. To have this come out and to be a part of this, I think it’s a privilege and I think it’s been a long time coming. If I was a kid, I’d love to be, you know, all my little nephews and nieces love Marvel, so to be a part of this, you know, it feels pretty special.

Devery Jacobs: I think also, in the US, for so long, Indigenous people and our histories have been largely ignored. I think people think of Native Americans as something from the past and they think of really stereotypical imagery and that’s just not the case. Like, we’re modern-day people with modern-day stories and I think showing the diversity of our experiences is hugely important in welcoming people into our communities but also showing how rich our cultures are and that we’re still here.

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Marvel Studios’ Echo, releasing on Hulu and Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2023. All Rights Reserved.

What were the biggest challenges you faced while filming?

Chaske Spencer: I think for me, it was the ASL (American Sign Language). I was a fish out of water on that and we had Doug and Alaqua, they were great, and very patient. I think that was the challenge, but you know, I didn’t look at it as being negative. You know, I run, I’m a runner and so, I looked at it as a long-term marathon and I love running and so, I looked at it as being taken out of my element to learn something that I probably would have never ever learned unless I got this opportunity. And when you get an opportunity like this, you got to really cherish it and know that you’re a part of something special.

Devery Jacobs: I think the biggest challenge was also learning sign language for me. It wasn’t something that I had previously studied and my character, Bonnie, is very proficient and she’s probably the person who is most fluent in ASL and that makes her closest with Maya when they’re young so, in order to make that look real, it took a lot of effort but also a huge shout-out to a lot of the deaf folks on the film, the producer Douglas Ridloff, who is also the ASL master, and he actually crafted each of the lines of dialogue and how it looked in ASL depending on people’s geographical location, depending on their family and I know there was like Plains Indian Sign Language in the series. So, that was an element that was really unique to this and that could only have ever happened by getting filmmakers and creatives from those communities.