Who Is The Girl At The End Of Hawkeye Episode 2?

With its first two installments in the books, the latest Disney+ offering from Marvel Studios,' "Hawkeye," is already off to a strong start. Despite preexisting plans to spend the holiday season with his family post-"Avengers: Endgame," Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) gets sucked into a potentially deadly feud between Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and a persistent criminal faction known as the Tracksuit Mafia. Having encountered them before during his time as the Ronin, Hawkeye knows what to expect from the group of villains, or at least that's what he thought prior to the second episode.

In the closing moments of "Hawkeye" episode two, the titular archer gets himself captured by the Tracksuit Mafia as part of his elaborate plan. After some banter with the goons, Barton frees himself from his restraints and takes control of the situation. However, Bishop's unexpected intervention and subsequent failure to contend with her enemies' firearms leads both of our heroes to end up captive. As a result, the Tracksuit Mafia brings one of its figureheads into the equation — a silent, dark-haired woman whose facial expressions and mannerisms indicate that she's all business.

So who is this mysterious girl, and what does her presence mean for the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large? Here's what we know.

The woman making her MCU debut at the tail end of "Hawkeye" episode two goes by the name Maya Lopez but is perhaps better known as Echo. Upstart actress Alaqua Cox has signed on to play the deaf vigilante, and if she's anything like her comic book counterpart, she'll become a major player in the franchise in no time. Created by Joe Quesada and David Mack, Echo introduced herself in "Daredevil" #9 from May of 1999 as a capable fighter and expert marksman, with a dramatic backstory that rivals the best Marvel Comics has to offer.

Following the death of her father at the hands of Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, the young Echo was taken in by the notorious crime boss — living a life of luxury and educational pampering. As one could imagine, Fisk didn't do this out of the kindness of his heart. He transformed her into a weapon and eventually sent her out to defeat one of his greatest rivals, Daredevil. She fails and learns of Fisk's role in her dad's murder, prompting her to turn on her surrogate parent and abandon his care — reconciling with Matt Murdock shortly thereafter. 

As the years have gone on, Echo has done some incredible things in print. She has taken on the Ronin mantle, fought off the shapeshifting Skrulls during the "Secret Invasion" storyline, aligned with the New Avengers, and even hosted the fabled yet feared Phoenix Force. Suffice to say, Alaqua Cox's take on the character can go in virtually any direction in the MCU beyond "Hawkeye." 

As noted previously, Echo's MCU story will not begin and end in "Hawkeye." As revealed on Disney+ Day 2021, she will star in a series of her own sometime in the next few years, with Alaqua Cox once again behind the role. It stands to reason the show will delve deeper into who she is and where she comes from, likely taking heavy inspiration from her rich comic book history. If this is the case, then "Echo" has the potential to give fans the reintroduction to a corner of the Marvel universe that they've been clamoring to go back to while still providing Maya Lopez plenty of time to shine.

When the critically-acclaimed "Daredevil" wrapped up its three-season Netflix tenure in 2018, viewers were up in arms. They'd come to love Charlie Cox's rendition of The Man Without Fear, Vincent D'Onofrio's sadistic Wilson Fisk, as well as the bevy of supporting players that accompanied them. Therefore, it felt like a disservice to all involved for the show to end so unceremoniously. Thankfully, given Echo's connection to the Hell's Kitchen crew, it's not out of the realm of possibility that her Disney+ program could integrate these characters as MCU canon proper — acting as a pseudo-"Daredevil" Season 4.

At the end of the day, though, this is merely speculation. All we can do is cross our fingers until more details about "Echo" come to light and check out what she'll be up to as "Hawkeye" continues to unfold.