Did ‘Echo’ Set Up ‘Daredevil: Born Again’?

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Echo Season 1, Episode 5, “Maya.”]

Disney+‘s latest Marvel entry is bringing some fan-favorite characters back into the mix with Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Kingpin, but is it also teeing up Daredevil: Born Again?

Centering on Maya Lopez’s (Alaqua Cox) journey, she flees from the manipulation of her “uncle” Wilson Fisk (D’Onofrio) when he reemerges from the shadows after having been shot in the face by her hand in 2021’s Hawkeye. In the opening episode of the season, viewers are taken back in time to a point when Maya was still learning the ropes before joining Fisk’s organization full-time.

On one of her first ventures out, she has a scuffle with Daredevil against which she holds her own. That impresses Fisk who then goes on to groom the girl he views as a daughter to take after his image. This changes when she learns the truth about her father’s death being ordered by Fisk, which is the reason she ends up shooting him in the face.

(Credit: Disney+/Marvel Studios)

But upon returning home, to her Indigenous Choctaw roots in Oklahoma, Maya learns that she’s been missing out on her true self by being separated from her family. Using newly discovered powers within her, she manages to keep Fisk’s threats at bay by using the power to make him confront his childhood traumas.

Shaken and disturbed by what he’s seen, by the season’s end, Fisk is skittering away on a private plane back to New York City after following Maya to Oklahoma. In the post-credit scene, he tells his assistant he needs a meeting with the other organization heads to fix the problem at hand.

It’s at this moment he’s distracted by a news broadcast of NY1 as anchors Pat Kiernan and Errol Louis discuss an upcoming mayoral race in the city. “There are legitimate problems in the city right now. And the voters want somebody who understands the pain they’re going through, who understands the frustration they’re going through,” Kiernan says.

“Exactly right,” Louise responds. “A bare-knuckle brawler would do well in this race. An outsider, somebody who is not afraid to take on the establishment.”

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“But wouldn’t that candidate have emerged by now? That’s the question that remains for so many people,” Kiernan notes. “‘Is that candidate even out there?'”

“There’s no doubt it’s late in the process, but there’s still a window of opportunity,” Louis points out. “That’s what the poll is telling us. It could be anybody’s race.”

It’s clear their words are planting a plan in Kingpin’s mind, which makes us wonder, could this be the setup for Daredevil: Born Again? The forthcoming series is still under wraps on specifics with storylines, but Fisk’s venture into politics would align with his comic book influences, plucking a storyline right from the Marvel pages.

In a run of Daredevil comics known as Mayor Fisk, Kingpin runs for office and wins, turning his sights on the devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Only time will tell for certain if the upcoming show will continue this idea and incorporate it into the story, but it certainly gives fans a lot to mull over. Let us know what you think of the possibility in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for any news on Daredevil: Born Again.

Echo, Streaming Now, Disney+ & Hulu