Maya Lopez, aka Echo, is one of many characters from the comics that will be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Disney+'s Hawkeye series. Echo and Clint Barton have some things in common in the source material. They were both members of the New Avengers and shared the Ronin identity. However, Echo's ties to Daredevil in the comics could lead to his long-anticipated MCU debut.
Maya first appeared in 1999's Daredevil #9. She was created by David Mack and Joe Quesada during the Marvel Knights era of the title. Maya was introduced as the latest in a series of star-crossed love interests for Daredevil. She had a whirlwind romance, including a day-long date, with Matt Murdock without knowing his secret identity.
Maya set herself apart from her predecessors, Elektra and Typhoid Mary, in a number of ways. She was raised by the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, after he killed her father. Deaf and believed to have learning disabilities, she first displayed her mimicry abilities by perfectly replicating a song on the piano. After that, she was transferred to a school for child prodigies.
Echo's abilities go beyond music. Like the Taskmaster, she has photographic reflexes. She can copy anyone's moves perfectly. She's also an Olympic-level athlete. That came in handy when the Kingpin sent her after Daredevil, under the pretense that he was the one who killed her father.
Maya learned Daredevil's moves by watching video of a fight between him and Bullseye. Armed with that knowledge, and a marathon of martial arts movies, Maya had Daredevil at her mercy at the end of their first encounter. She only spared his life because they had drawn a crowd of kids and killing someone in front of them would hit too close to home for her.
During their second encounter, a poisoned dart meant for Daredevil struck Black Widow instead. With Widow's life on the line, Daredevil was able to neutralize Maya's abilities by moving their fight to an abandoned building. In pitch darkness, Maya couldn't copy any of Daredevil's moves. Daredevil was able to incapacitate her long enough to get the Widow to safety.
Maya realized that Daredevil's hearing was his advantage in the darkness. She overwhelmed his senses in their next match, using the ambient noise of Hell's Kitchen and a fire against him. She had the advantage until she reopened a wound on his cheek, the same one that had bled during Murdock's date with Maya. She realized that Murdock couldn't have killed her father (he was in elementary school when the murder occurred) and that Fisk was the true murderer.
While Maya held a gun on him, the Kingpin told her that they needed each other. When that appeal didn't work and she cocked the gun, he asked her to promise to remember that he made her who she is. She does and pulls the trigger. She shot Fisk twice in the head. It doesn't kill him but does blind him, which ultimately led to him losing power over New York's underworld.
After shooting her surrogate father, Maya left New York to clear her head. When she returned, she wasn't able to rekindle her relationship with Murdock, who had moved on to another relationship. Daredevil did recommend Maya to Captain America for an Avengers mission in Japan, which led to her joining the team and playing an important role in the buildup to Secret Invasion.
Echo could be a conduit to bring Daredevil (and the Kingpin) to the MCU, if not in Hawkeye then in future projects featuring the character. Setting up a love interest/antagonist who isn't Elektra, but does have a connection to the Kingpin, would be a good way to differentiate the MCU incarnation of the character from his Netflix roots.
Hawkeye stars Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Fra Fee as Kazi, Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne/Swordsman, Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez/Echo and Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez. The Disney+ series has yet to receive a premiere date.