The applauded disability representation in Hawkeye has carried through into a minifigure from LEGO 71039 Marvel Series 2.
The casting of Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez (aka Echo) in Disney+’s Hawkeye was applauded during its release in December 2021, bringing an actor on board who not only had Maya’s comic-book-accurate deafness but also a prosthetic leg. Flashbacks in episode three offered insights into the character’s childhood, such as being faced with lipreading in class and tackling another kid during martial arts, prosthetic leg and all.
OMG She’s Latina & Native American, deaf, has a prosthetic leg, & can mimic physicalities like Taskmaster? Six minutes in & already Echo is the baddest-ass in the MCU. #Hawkeye
— tom saw project hail mary & loved it! blm. (@tomabernathy) December 1, 2021
In the world of LEGO, Echo is one of the 12 characters included in 71039 Marvel Series 2, alongside two of the protagonists to her antagonist role in the series, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. The LEGOMarvel designers have captured Echo’s prosthetic leg in a unique element, with printing that matches the first look at her official MCU costume, presumably expected to debut in her titular show, coming to Disney+ on November 29, 2023.
In Hawkeye, Echo didn’t wear a particular outfit, preferring instead to wear all-black combat gear, with martial arts wraps on her hands, reflecting her training. This new outfit is thought to reference Cox’s Native American background, with gold and silver accents throughout the red costume. The silver prosthetic leg element also includes similar markings on the front and side, highlighting it as a truly unique piece – although not the first LEGO prosthetic leg we’ve seen.
A minifigure prosthetic leg was first seen in LEGOCity 60347 Grocery Store, where one minifigure (clad in yellow and blue below) was seen using his prosthetic leg to browse the aisles in a food store back in. Released in June, 2022, 60347 Grocery Store only had a short run, retiring in December of the same year. However, this wasn’t the end of the LEGO prosthetic leg, with the same element returning in the same blue and silver colours in 60364 Street Skate Park.
Released more recently in June of this year, 60364 Street Skate Park saw the prosthetic leg element embark on more active adventures, with its minifigure able to skate and cycle in the gravity-defying brick-built skate park.
Echo’s prosthetic leg doesn’t just bring fresh colours to the LEGO element, but also a new structure. Instead of the prosthetic leg seen in 60347 Grocery Store and 60364 Street Skate Park, which narrows at the top before widening to a base the same size as other LEGO minifigure feet, Echo’s leg is a similar width to other minifigure legs along its length. However, there is a hole just below the knee to reflect the mechanical hinge of the leg, just as seen in Hawkeye, highlighting the presence of the prosthetic.
The inclusion of Echo’s prosthetic leg combines her own personality with disability representation, highlighting how smoothly the prosthetic leg matches the character’s upcoming costume. Following on from Hawkeye, when the series was applauded for its casual and accurate representations of deafness, we can hope that Echo will do the same for amputees, just as the minifigure widens the possibilities for LEGO representation.
I write about all the very best fandoms – and that means LEGO, of course. Spending so much time looking at and talking about LEGO sets is dangerous for my bank balance, but the LEGO shelves are thriving. You win some, you lose some.
