Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld both learned American Sign Language to welcome Alaqua Cox to the set.
The TV show was originally tentatively planned as a movie, which was even included in Jeremy Renner's contract. However, Kevin Feige felt that it would be a better fit as a Disney+ show, and Renner agreed to the change.
Maya Lopez/Echo is the second deaf superhuman to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first was Makkari in Eternals (2021), played by Lauren Ridloff. Both are played by real-life deaf actresses.
Alaqua Cox is Native American and deaf, just like her character Maya Lopez but, unlike the comic book version, Cox also happens to be an amputee. Rather than go to potentially complex measures to conceal this, the show runners instead fully incorporated this detail into the character as presented onscreen.
Debut for actress Alaqua Cox, who had never acted in front of a camera before. Her performance was considered so impressive that a spin-off for her character was planned soon after this show was completed.