All The Echo Easter Eggs In Hawkeye Episode 3 Explained

Contains spoilers for "Hawkeye" Episode 3

Every Marvel Studios show on Disney+ introduces a handful of new heroes and villains to flesh out the Marvel Cinematic Universe in different ways. "Hawkeye" is no different, as it puts Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) front and center alongside Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). Sure, this is a way of diving deeper into the Avengers' archer and what makes him tick, but it's also the MCU's way of pushing Kate into Clint's role. Marvel's readying a new generation here — hello, Young Avengers. But another new character introduced in "Hawkeye" is Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), who also goes by the moniker "Echo" in the comics.

Episode 3, "Echoes" appropriately explains her backstory, which sees Ronin aka Clint Barton murder her father William (Zahn McClarnon) during his 5-year reign of terror before "Avengers: Endgame." She's the new leader of the Tracksuit Mafia bros, and she's also an incredibly ferocious fighter. As comic readers will already know, Echo winds up becoming a hero in the "Daredevil" comics from the late 1990s and early 2000s after her adoptive father, the Kingpin himself, points her at the Man Without Fear.

Like any good Marvel movie or TV series, there are a few Easter eggs in "Hawkeye" Episode 3 that point toward Echo's history in the comics, even if we haven't seen the whole thing brought to life on screen (yet).

Comic fans will probably know that Echo's vigilante disguise consists of a huge white handprint painted on her face when she takes to the streets. Obviously that doesn't quite conceal her identity, but it's certainly an iconic look. She gets the idea when her father, William Lincoln aka Crazy Horse, is murdered by Kingpin. In his last few moments, he leaves a bloody handprint on her face — which is enough to traumatize the young girl. Fortunately, Kingpin is good enough to raise Maya as his own... Such an altruistic guy, that Kingpin.

In the opening moments of "Hawkeye" Episode 3, William is talking with Maya using American Sign Language before she goes to sleep. In this scene, a green handprint painting can be seen in the background of her room. There's an even more prominent Easter egg soon after, when Ronin takes out most of the Tracksuit Mafia in a bloody, ruthless attack on the gang during that five-year gap. Clint stabs William, and Maya finds her dying father, who touches her face with his bloody hand. It leaves a red bloody handprint across the side of her face, which is a scene practically ripped from the comics.

Note the scene from "Hawkeye" Episode 3 in which Clint brutally tears through the Tracksuit Mafia. It's all seen through Maya's perspective as she's walking past the window, and we see the various gangsters get taken out by Clint. Looks a lot like a similar scene featuring Clint as Ronin taking out a bunch of Yakuza in "Endgame" (you know the one).

This symmery is likely a nod to the fact that Maya aka Echo is the first one to don the Ronin identity in the comics — even before Hawkeye (via Fandom). Echo first shows up as Ronin in "New Avengers" issue #11 back in 2005, and her real identity is kept a mystery until she unmasks herself in "New Avengers" issue #13 following a fight against a criminal organization called the Hand (which is kind of ironic, given the handprint across her face).

It'll be interesting to see if Echo puts on the Ronin costume herself at some point in "Hawkeye" or her own spin-off series. Although given the suit was used as part of her father's murder, she probably doesn't want to be associated with it.