Menominee Nation Actress From Wisconsin Starting in New Marvel Show on Disney+

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024 -- 9:08 AM

(Frank Vaisvilas, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Alaqua Cox, the Menominee Nation actress from Wisconsin who starred alongside Jeremy Renner in the Marvel series “Hawkeye” on Disney+, has her own spinoff series, "Echo," being released Tuesday, also on Disney+.

According to Frank Vaisvilas with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in “Hawkeye,” which came out in 2021, Cox made history as the first live-action Native American Marvel superhero for her role as Maya Lopez, aka Echo. “I just can’t believe that the Native American community can have a Native American superhero,” Cox, 26, said in a recent "Echo" promotional ad.

The studio had been looking for a young, athletic Native American actress who's deaf to play the role as a conflicted villain to Renner’s Avengers character Hawkeye. Cox was hesitant to audition, at first, but was encouraged by family and friends who said she’d be perfect for it.

She had no acting experience, but took her shot and landed the role. “This is our chance to uplift Indigenous voices and let the world know that we’re still here,” Cox said. Cox was born deaf, grew up in Menominee County and attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan.

She also has a prosthetic leg, but performs many of her own "Echo" stunts. The 26-year-old Cox is Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican from northeast Wisconsin, but her character is Choctaw, a tribal nation that has a reservation in Oklahoma.

The studio worked closely with the Choctaw Nation in creating the series and episodes are directed by Sydney Freeland, who’s Navajo, and Catriona McKenzie, who’s Gunaikurnai, an Indigenous people of Australia.

Several Menominee and Mohican people from Wisconsin also were cast as background characters in the series.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.