[This story contains spoilers for Hawkeye episode three.]
Hawkeye is a ghost story. It is about the choices individuals make when moving through the world, what they see and hear, what they choose to ignore, and what spirits they unleash by doing so. Hawkeye is a ghost story, one that hinges on the past, present and future, Dickensian by way of Marvel. This, in turn, makes it the perfect tale for Christmastime.
Clint Barton’s (Jeremy Renner) war against organized crime as Ronin has finally caught up to him in the latest episode of Hawkeye. After the groundwork-laying first two episodes, Hawkeye truly lets loose in the third installment of the series, which sees Clint and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) face off against the Tracksuit Mafia. But of course, the Tracksuit Mafia bros are only parts of a whole, as their leader, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), known to comic book readers as Echo, makes her presence known. And a larger, make that much larger, threat lies in wait in the shadows.
In “Echoes,” written by Katie Mathewson and Tanner Bean, and directed by Bert & Bertie, audiences witness Clint Barton’s impact on the life of another young woman. Where Kate saw the inspiring heroism of Hawkeye during the Battle of New York, setting her on the path to becoming a hero of her own, Maya saw the efficient, emotionless, bloodshed of Ronin post-Snap, setting her on a path of vengeance. The dual legacies, or echoes, of Clint Barton are highlighted in this episode, and it’s not unnoticed that the overly chatty, optimistic, and wealthy Kate is positioned as Maya’s opposite. Cox, a deaf actress of the Menominee and Mohican nations, makes her screen debut in Hawkeye, making her the first Indigenous superhero in the MCU, and the second deaf superhero following Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari in Eternals. There’s nothing that suggests Cox is a first-time actor as she commands each scene she’s in, imbuing Echo with a quiet, barely contained rage. Maya’s tense, a notched arrow with a specific target rather than Kate’s loosed, and somewhat careless, bolt.
Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez and young Maya Lopez in Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye. Courtesy of Marvel StudiosWhile both Kate and Maya’s lives, and the paths they’re on, are haunted by their fathers, Derek Bishop (Brian d’Arcy James) and William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon) respectively, there is an inherent discussion of privilege at play when looking at both of their lives. This privilege is not only defined by wealth, evidenced by the discussion William has with Maya about not being able to afford to send her to a school for the deaf, compared to Kate being sent to the best schools and courses in the world, but also by the fact that Maya is part of the deaf community and an amputee, which is also true of Cox. Maya has a different lens into the world, which has made her more cautious and observant than Kate, but notably an equally exceptional athlete and martial artist. Undoubtedly, Maya has had to fight harder to get to where she is than Kate has, and this dynamic that recognizes privilege without ever directly commenting on it is an unusual, but welcome, element for comic book foils.
Where Kate finds a foil on one side, she finds a compatriot on the other. Kate’s relationship with Clint grows stronger in this episode as the two bond as mentor and protégé. When Clint is left temporarily deaf after Maya destroys his hearing aid, the two learn to communicate on a new level, specifically during an explosive car chase that is pulled directly from Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye No. 3 (2012). Fraction and Aja’s comic series isn’t the only one that looms over the episode, as we learn Maya has a mentor of her own, the mysterious “Uncle.” David Mack and Joe Quesada’s Daredevil storyline, “Parts of a Hole,” which ran through Daredevil (1998) No. 9 through No. 15, introduced Maya Lopez into the Marvel Universe where she was revealed to be the ward of none other than Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of Crime.
Vincent D’Onofrio in Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil. David Giesbrecht/NetflixRumors that Vincent D’Onofrio would be returning to the role he crushed on Netflix’s Daredevil have long circulated around Hawkeye. Although “Echoes” doesn’t give us a full look at the Kingpin, the large man standing behind Maya as a child, who places his sizable hand on her shoulder certainly suggests Fisk’s presence, as does the aura of power surrounding the moniker “Uncle,” as overseer of the Tracksuit Mafia in the present-day storyline. Additionally, the earlier iteration of the Tracksuit Mafia, led by William Lopez before he was seemingly killed by Ronin, is run out of an auto shop called Fat Man’s garage. Throughout his comic book history, Fisk is frequently referenced as “the Fat Man.” Now, I know what you might be thinking, but this isn’t another Mephisto-style leap at figuring out the big bad this time around. We should all be able to say with confidence that Wilson Fisk is definitely in play. So, what does the presence of Fisk mean for the future of Hawkeye and the recently announced spinoff series focused on Maya Lopez, Echo?
It seems Ronin’s war on crime has left a power vacuum, and a state of disorganization when it comes to NYC’s criminal empires. Fisk is obviously the man to unite them and make them stronger. As ill-equipped as the Tracksuit Mafia seems for Clint and Kate, they are likely only a small part of Fisk’s growing empire. If the Kingpin is just getting started, still referred to in codenames, what does this mean in terms of his presence in the three seasons of Daredevil on Netflix, in which he was a recognizable local celebrity and outed as a criminal? It seems likely that that version of Wilson Fisk and the rest of the Marvel Netflix characters will be recoded as Variants, with new versions of these characters, some played by the same actors, now being introduced into the central Earth of the MCU. This would allow for Kingpin’s grip on the criminal underworld to start from scratch and draw new heroes into his schemes and deceptions.
In the comics, it was Fisk, who grew up in poverty, who killed William Lopez, his business partner and best friend. He later framed Daredevil for the murder, and tasked Maya with killing the devil of Hell’s Kitchen as “a favor.” After an ensuing battle with Daredevil that also entangles Black Widow, Maya eventually learns the truth, and later joins the Avengers, becoming the first Marvel Comics character to take the name Ronin, preceding Clint Barton’s time in the mantle by two years.
From left: Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Fra Fee as Kazi, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, Aleks Paunovic as Ivan and Carlos Navarro as Enrique in Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye. Courtesy of Marvel StudiosIn Disney+’s Hawkeye, Maya finds her father already dying, seemingly from the aftermath of Ronin’s attack. But it’s possible that Fisk was responsible or that he tipped off Ronin, leading to Williams’ death. However, Hawkeye approaches the “Parts of a Hole” storyline, it seems certain that Maya won’t remain an antagonist by the series end, and that her relationship with “Uncle” will changed for the worse. Whether or not this means her taking up the Ronin mantle for herself or eventually joining the Avengers remains to be seen, but one thing seems certain: Maya Lopez will be key to defining the street-level exploits of the MCU.
If part of the endgame of Hawkeye is Clint and Kate discovering the existence of the Kingpin, then Echo may center on Maya’s efforts to take him down, perhaps with the help of some long-awaited familiar faces, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). The connection between Echo and Daredevil seems impossible to avoid, and Hawkeye, which already felt similar in tone and design to Marvel’s Netflix shows, may serve as a bridge between world-saving exploits of the MCU, and those more grounded stories of the comics that feature Hawkeyes (Clint and Kate), Daredevil, Black Widow, Echo and Kingpin, whose spirits are all parts of a whole. While the holiday spirit ranks high in Hawkeye as a feature that insists upon fun and frivolity, it is decoration for a series that much like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol uses its holiday setting for a larger consideration of class, disability, mentorship, and things and people that can never be gotten back.
Is Hawkeye Teasing The Return Of A Major Marvel Villain?
SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for the new episode of Hawkeye. If you have not yet watched, continue at your own risk!
In recent months, chatter surrounding the forthcoming release of Spider-Man: No Way Home has generated all kinds of speculation about special characters who may or may not make surprise appearances in the blockbuster. Most of the talk has been in regards to the possibility of seeing both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield once again play their respective versions of Peter Parker, but there’s also plenty of gossip spread around involving characters from the popular Netflix Marvel shows – with the focus mainly being on Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin.
(Image credit: Netflix)We won’t actually know if any of these rumors are true until the Marvel movie arrives in theaters later this month… but based on the third episode of Hawkeye, titled “Echoes,” it seems that there is a very real possibility that the Disney+ show is being set up to potentially beat Spider-Man: No Way Home to the punch and bring Wilson Fisk into the proper Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Watching the latest chapter of Hawkeye, alert viewers may have noticed that there are a handful of clues pointing to the fan-favorite villain operating as a major player in the background of the plot, and only making the speculation feel more solid is that certain details are supported by history in the canon of Marvel Comics. To put it bluntly, there is a mysterious character referred to only as “Uncle” in the episode, and there seems to be a strong suggestion that he is New York’s infamous Kingpin of Crime.
(Image credit: Marvel Studios) Who is Maya Lopez’s Uncle?A significant amount of the runtime in “Echoes” is appropriately dedicated to introducing audiences to Maya Lopez (played as an adult by Alaqua Cox). We learn that she has been deaf her entire life, and she was raised by a loving father, William (Zahn McClarnon), who did everything in his power to help her when she was growing up – despite not having the resources to be able to send her to a school with other deaf students. The reason why she captures Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) in the second episode is because Ronin murdered William amid his murderous mid-Blip rampage, and she wants revenge for the crime.
Maya isn’t totally alone following her dad’s death, however, as she has her aforementioned “uncle” – who is only briefly shown on screen without revealing his face (he’s clearly a Caucasian man with a large figure). He is established to have known Maya for a long time, as he gives her a ride home after karate class as a kid, and dialogue later in the episode suggests that he has become an even more prominent presence in her life (though it doesn’t seem that he is in the loop about her whole revenge plot).
These details alone don’t immediately scream “The Kingpin is in Hawkeye,” but there are other details to consider as well. While William Lopez seems like a good guy in the flashbacks we see, he is also clearly mixed up with some very bad people – hence why Ronin winds up coming a’knockin. Furthermore, Maya’s relationship with members of the Tracksuit Mafia suggests that she is connected with individuals in the criminal underworld following her father’s death, and that would obviously be facilitated in a major way if she had close ties with Wilson Fisk.
This is a much more minor thing, but it’s also hard not to notice the name of the business where William is working when he is killed: Fat Man Auto Repair. Perhaps a funny reference to Kingpin’s substantial frame?
(Image credit: Marvel Studios) Maya Lopez A.K.A. Echo And Kingpin Have A Close Connection In Marvel ComicsIf we were only considering what’s depicted, the information dropped in Hawkeye Episode 3 would only be viewed as loose speculation regarding the possible return of Wilson Fisk to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but what makes the idea more solid than anything is the fact that there is extreme comic book precedent. As of right now, it appears as though the Disney+ show is basically adapting Maya Lopez’s origin story straight from the one originally created by David Mack and Joe Quesada – albeit with some very important details changed.
In the comics, Echo is adopted by Wilson Fisk following the death of her father, but what she doesn’t know is that it was Fisk himself who ordered William Lopez’s execution. To both protect himself and try and utilize the gifted young girl as a weapon, he tells her that Daredevil is the man responsible for murder – though she eventually discovers the truth and successfully turns the tables on him.
Clearly we’re not getting a direct adaptation of that comic book arc, as it’s made pretty damn clear in Hawkeye that Ronin is responsible for William Lopez’s murder… but we also can’t rule out the possibility that Kingpin somehow purposefully set up Ronin to take out the crew at Fat Man Auto Repair. Knowing the way he operates, it’s easy to imagine him orchestrating a sequence of events that would allow him to kill two birds with one stone, with the vigilante unknowingly performing some of the criminal’s dirty work and also steering attention away from himself. This would explain why he would be unhappy about Maya trying to get revenge, as it would possibly mean her getting closer to the truth.
Sadly, all we can do right now is guess about what may happen from this point forward in Hawkeye – though fans won’t have to wait long for a conclusion either way. The miniseries is only six episodes long after all, and that means that we are now halfway through. Could we see Kingpin pop up in next week’s episode? It’s possible… but it also feels more likely that the character’s big reveal will be saved for the finale, which will be available to stream the Wednesday after Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters.
It should go without saying that we are spectacularly excited about the potential that exists for seeing Kingpin on Hawkeye – and it’s something that we’ll surely return to discussing next week when Episode 4 arrives on Disney+ on December 8 at midnight PST/3am EST.
Inside Dark Minds Of ‘cartel Queens’ Who Marry Drug Lords At 18, Plot Prison Breaks & Flaunt Golden Guns On Instagram
THEY are beautiful, rich... And absolutely ruthless.
Often as fearsome as their male counterparts, the world's cartel queens have been responsible for everything from drug trafficking to robberies and even assassinations.
Emma Coronel - the wife of El Chapo - was this week sentenced to three years behind barsCredit: Emma Coronel Aispurol / INSTAGRAMThis week, the wife of notorious drug kingpin 'El Chapo' was sentenced to three years in prison for helping his criminal empire.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, laundering money and financial dealings with the Sinaloa cartel.
While there is no clear-cut criminal blueprint, psychologist Dannielle Haig explains that certain personality traits and other factors can lead a person into the world of crime.
She believes the public is often "more shocked" by female offending because women are seen as "mothers, daughters and sisters, who are meant to be lovely, kind and maternal".
"But it's the same for women as it is with men, there is a dark side and you can't have the good without the bad," Dannielle told The Sun.
"There are a range of personality types, variants and variables, and environments where people have to fight to survive in the world they are born into.
"For many, it can be a 'do or die' situation and some step up and partake while others just leave."
With this in mind, we take a look at the dangerous and glamourous lives of South American drug queens and try to decode some of the behaviours behind their shocking actions.
Mrs El ChapoEmma fllowing the trial of her husband Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in Brooklyn, New York, in February 2019Credit: EPA
Emma is a former beauty queen
Probably the most famous cartel queen of them all is Emma Coronel Aispuro.
The Californian pleaded guilty in June this year at a virtual hearing in Washington D.C to helping El Chapo distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for a period of at least six years.
She also admitted one count of money laundering, one count of engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker and conspiring to help her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015.
Emma was born into the business as her Mexican-born dad was a drugs trafficker, and it was at one of his parties in 2006 that she met El Chapo, at the age of 17.
He proposed at a beauty pageant notorious as a hunting ground for drugs lords to find their wives.
The pair married on her 18th birthday, when El Chapo - who is serving life in a Colorado prison - was 50.
Emma gave birth to their twins, Maria and Emali, in 2011.
This week in court, she claimed to feel "true regret for any and all harm" she caused and asked "all the citizens of this country" to forgive her.
Dannielle explained that teenagers are "quite easily influenced" because their frontal lobe, which is responsible for forward planning and impulse control, has not fully developed.
"That can lead to someone being manipulated and that life becoming normal for them. If you married a drug lord it could seem as normal as sitting in an office all day," she said.
The psychologist also explained that age gaps can lead to an "almost father and daughter-like admiration".
Queen of the PacificSandra Ávila Beltrán was the third generation of her family to be heavily involved in crime
The matriarch of cartel queens, Sandra Ávila Beltrán, was so legendary she even had a song written about her.
The 2004 song includes the lyrics: "The more beautiful the rose, the sharper the thorns."
She was also born into crime - not only her parents but grandparents were also in the business.
Sandra earned her nickname after dispatching 10 tons of cocaine on a fleet of tuna boats from Manzanillo, Mexico, to California in 2001. It was seized by authorities and Sandra disappeared.
She has married two police officers who joined the cartels - both of whom were killed in Mexican drug wars.
Dannielle said there was "a fine line between criminals and police officers" and the intrigue in illegal activity can lead some to commit crime.
She said: "Why go into it if you have no interest in crime? There's an astounding amount of criminal activity that goes on in the police.
"And it can be easy to influence a person to step over that fine line, it's like the fine line between love and hate."
La NegraJessica elped her father launder money through their various businesses
Jessica Oseguera, 34, is the daughter of El Chapo's rival cartel boss, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or El Mencho.
A day after Mrs El Chapo appeared in court, Jessica - known as La Negra - was sentenced to two-and-a-half years for helping her dad launder money through their various businesses, including sushi restaurants, a resort and a tequila company.
El Mencho, who is on the Most Wanted traffickers list, runs the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in Mexico.
The brutal ring includes a band of 5,000 hitmen whose trademark method of dispatch is to behead any enemies and dissolve their bodies in acid.
Jessica, a mum-of-two, insisted she was not involved in the drugs business and wrote in a letter to the judge: "I regret everything I did that may have caused any harm."
Dannielle said the act of disolving a body in acid is "something serial killers do or people who are desperate to remove evidence".
She added: "Not you average person would think of - let alone come up - with an idea like this.
"Often with crime those at the top never commit the acts themselves and that can show an element of power or control.
"When people get away with crimes they become less scare of police and authority and the larger the risk the more the brain wants to take more risks."
Her MajestyValeska has been arrested multiple times by police for her criminal lifestyleCredit: Newsflash
Brazilian Valeska Pereira Monteiro, 27, was arrested in September while on holiday.
She is accused of controlling the finances of a gang in the north-eastern state of Ceara.
Her nickname came about because Majesty spends her "blood money" on lavish trips and a luxury lifestyle.
It isn't the first time she's been caught by the cops.
In 2014, she was arrested for leading a gang that robbed homes and commercial properties in Ceara's capital, Fortaleza.
Last year, she was caught doing accounting for a crime gang in Rio de Janeiro and forced to wear an ankle tag, which she broke in April when she was considered a fugitive.
Dannielle specialises in the 'Dark Triad' personality - psychopathy, machiavellism and narcissism - and says it often leads to criminality.
When asked why a person involved in legal activity would post on social media, she said it could be a sign of "shortsightedness or arrogance".
Dannielle said: "It's interesting for someone to present their life in a way that showcases criminality while also having a public personality.
"Social media is a haven for narcassisstic behaviour. It's a place where everything in a person's life could be a facade.
"For someone to show that off but also be happy to see someone's life as worthless is an interesting duality of personality types."
La CatrinaMaría Guadalupe López Esquivel was killed at just 21 after joining the El Mencho cartel to be with her lover Miguel
At just 21 María Guadalupe López Esquivel, nicknamed the Dame of Death, was killed after rising to prominence as the leader of a local cartel.
The young woman is said to have become involved in gang life after falling for a narco known as “M2,” Miguel Fernandez.
She abandoned a middle-class city life to live with him and other criminals in Aguililla, Michoacán, in 2017.
They were part of the El Mencho cartel which was fighting for dominance with El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel.
Maria was shot through the neck during a shoot-out and died from her wounds.
In documents seized in the raid, it suggested that she was involved in kidnapping, extortion and other criminal activities, and had herself commanded cartel assassins.
She also posted regularly on her Instagram, boasting about her lifestyle with the cartel.
A number of things can lead a person to crime, Dannielle explains, including personality, wellbeing or even their family history.
"Generally speaking people have fewer moral and ethical stances and a higher level of psychopathy and narcissism," she said.
"People who run these kinds of criminal businesses don't feel risk the same way normal people do, they have an inflated sense of superiority and think they won't get caught.
"These kinds of people are more likely to be with someone who has similar psychopathic tendencies - ie. Not being scared of police or authority or being afraid to take big risks."
La DonaIrene wasn't born into a life of crime but ended up running an international drug ringCredit: department of justice
Luz Irene Fajardo Campos ran an international drug trafficking ring out of Columbia with the help of her two adult sons.
She also went by the aliases “La Comadre” and “La Madrina” - words denoting a big female boss.
But she wasn't born into a life of crime. Instead, she had a fairly idyllic childhood in southern, humid state of Michoacán, western Mexico.
This all changed when she was a teenager and the crime lords moved into the area.
Her introduction into the drug business was selling dope on the street of California which led to her being deported back to Mexico in the 1990s.
From there she embarked on a three-decade career and was said to work closely with El Chapo's sons.
She was sending 30 kilos of cocaine a week to the US - she also hired pilots and bought jets to move her drugs around before being arrested.
Shortly after she was caught, her two sons were killed and their dismembered burnt bodies were left in a vehicle.
It was a stark warning to her to not cooperate with the investigation.
Irene was slapped with a 22-year sentence for her drug crimes and her mental health is said to have rapidly deteriorated behind bars.
Dannielle explains that the environment a person grows up in can change their perception of what is normal.
"It can seem like normal life, especially if you see everybody else doing the same type of work," she said.
"For most people, when they get away with crimes, they will go on to bigger and bigger things. Especially when there is competition and money can be made from it."
Emma married El Chapo on her 18th birthday while he was in prisonCredit: Getty - Contributor Drug kingpin El Mencho’s wife arrested as net closes on ‘uncatchable’ cartel chief even more savage than El Chapo
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