A True Superhero

Alaqua Cox Is Deaf, an Amputee and Marvel's Newest Star

- JP MANGALINDAN

Preparing to play a formidable Marvel character is a notoriously demanding process that pushes actors to the pinnacle of physical fitness. For Alaqua Cox— who’s making history as the first Native American star to lead a Marvel series in the new Disney+ show Echo—it meant training five days a week with a stunt team to learn a slew of butt-kicking moves. “I grew up playing different kinds of sports—I would play one-on-one basketball with my older brother— so I love doing those kinds of physical things,” says the actress, who, like her character Maya Lopez, is an amputee and has been deaf all her life.

Cox, 26, originated the ruthless role with her breakthrough performance opposite Jeremy Renner in the series Hawkeye. Echo, who debuted in Marvel comics in 1999, is a gifted fighter with superhuman strength and a thirst for vengeance. It was on the Hawkeye set in Georgia that Cox learned she would star in her own spinoff. “It was very overwhelming. I texted my family back home in Wisconsin; I said, ‘I’m getting my own Marvel show!’” she recalls. “I FaceTimed them right away. I had nobody there to be with me, but I was so proud of myself.”