Every superhero needs a villain who will stand against him — that's where all the tension in such stories comes from. It helps if the villain has a personal connection to the hero or if they at least have something in common. It seems that Maya Lopez, aka, Echo will be the main antagonist of Hawkeye in his new series on Disney Plus.

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Echo first appeared in the second episode of Hawkeye, and the third episode provided little more details about her background. While the audience got to know Echo a bit more thanks to the episode, there are still plenty of things they don't know about her. As a somewhat obscure Marvel character, there are certain intriguing things about Echo that only fans of Marvel comics will know.

7 She's A Former Assassin

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Some superheroes don't like to kill others, which puts them at a disadvantage when facing their enemies. Kate Bishop certainly doesn't look fond of taking people's lives. Echo, on the other hand, has no problem with it in the comics.

Echo is a former assassin who's used to operating in the shadows. She used her skills well when Daredevil asked her to go to Japan and watch the Hand, the villainous organization that appeared even in the MCU, in Daredevil and The Defenders.

6 She Can Be A Good Guy

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The series so far presented Echo as a villain, but that's not all she is in the comics. At one point, Echo took on the name of Ronin and worked alongside superheroes, such as Daredevil and Moon Knight. She operated mostly on her own, but also helped others when they needed it and fought against the Hand.

During her time as Ronin, the former Echo proved she was able to work on herself and also that she wasn't beyond redemption. That's something that connects her to Hawkeye, since Clint Barton also started out as a villain in the comics when he originally fought Iron Man.

5 She Has Impressive Skills

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Hawkeye showcased only some of Echo's skills, but she can do a lot of impressive things. She's an accomplished pianist and ballerina, and speaks multiple languages. Echo has an excellent photographic memory, so she can learn new things just by watching other people.

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That also means she can fight as well as some other heroes, because she watched their fighting style and learned from it. She managed to hold her own in the fight against Hawkeye in the third episode, and if they meet again, it's possible Echo will quickly grasp Hawkeye's fighting style.

4 Her Interesting Romances

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Echo is another proof that sometimes villains can build romances with superheroes...to a certain degree. When she worked as an assassin, she was given the task of killing Daredevil. Instead, the two slept together. Considering Daredevil has a soft spot for Elektra, who also walks the thin line between being a hero and a villain, his brief relationship with Echo makes sense in context. The two later worked together as partners in crime, so to speak, but didn't stay together as a couple.

Even more importantly, Maya had a brief romance with Hawkeye during the Secret Invasion storyline. It didn't last and it's unlikely their romance will make it into the MCU since they're enemies in the show and Clint has a happy relationship with his wife.

3 Her Connection To An Iconic MCU Villain

The Kingpin in Daredevil

Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, remains one of the best MCU villains despite the fact that he has never appeared in the movies. Some fans have a theory he might appear in Hawkeye, but it's unclear whether that will happen. Either way, Fisk and Echo have a close connection. Maya's father worked as a mob enforcer for Fisk, who later had him killed. Maya witnessed her father's death and it left a mark on her.

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Fisk later provided her with combat training because he recognized that Maya had a knack for it. He made her his hired assassin and tasked her to kill Daredevil, the man Echo believed responsible for her father's death. However, Maya eventually learned the truth about Fisk's involvement in her father's death, and stopped working for him. She even shot Fisk at one point, but he survived.

2 She Hosted The Phoenix Force

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Jean Grey is the most famous superhero who hosted the Phoenix force in her body. However, Echo is another one. It's unlikely this storyline will make it into the show because hosting the Phoenix force would give Echo a lot of additional powers.

As such, it would present an unfair advantage and Clint and Kate wouldn't stand a chance against her. Another reason why this aspect of Maya's personality will remain in the comics is that the X-Men aren't currently in the MCU, and the Phoenix force is primarily connected with them.

1 She Died But Came Back To Life

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It's nothing unusual in superhero comics for both heroes and villains to die and then come back to life. It happened to Echo as well after Elektra killed her. Echo was brought back to life by the Hand, who brainwashed her and forced her to kill their enemies.

That closely mirrors another MCU's hero destiny, Bucky Barnes'. Luckily for Maya, she snapped out of her trance with the help of Doctor Strange, whom she tried to kill.

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