Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, streaming, TV | Tagged: Alaqua Cox, ASL, bert & bertie, deaf, disney, florence pugh, hawkeye, jeremy renner

Hawkeye Directors Bert & Bertie Discuss Bringing Echo to Disney+ MCU

Bert & Bertie are the director duo tasked with helping to introduce the character of the deaf superhero Echo, played by Alaqua Cox, into the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the Disney+ series Hawkeye. Echo, also known as Maya Lopez, communicates via ASL (American Sign Language) with Kazi (Fra Fee) and is trained hand-to-hand combat from an early age, and becomes the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia. Bert & Bertie spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about working with the Native American actor on how to effectively use ASL, how they got into the MCU fold, their style of filmmaking, and potential involvement in Echo's future. It's also important to note that Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is confronting having to adjust to life with a hearing aid.

"When Marvel chooses directors, they choose directors with voice, and that voice isn't defined by action," Bertie said. "Marvel gives you the support as a director to do all of the action you need to do, but what's important to them is that you have a point of view and you have a way of telling stories. So you see that with the choices they make, duos and non-duos, across the board. It's always about a fresh perspective." Bert broke down their style. "We love using closeups in our storytelling," she explained. "For those emotional moments, you really draw the audience in, so it's actually throughout our work. But our camera decisions are always determined by the narrative and emotional needs of the scene. When you're in those closeups, it's because the character is really feeling something in that moment, and we want to put the audience right there with them."

The duo remained coy about the identity of the uncle who sized Echo during her flashback showing off her martial arts prowess winning a contest while it's rumored to be Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio). When it came to working with Cox, she taught them a lot about making ASL communication as organic as possible. "We had a whole team that helped us out with that, and Alaqua was a huge help with guiding us where she looks when she's talking to someone," Bertie said. "She looks at the whole person. You just said we're in love with close-ups; we love getting in the emotion of close-ups. But for the viewer, and especially the non-hearing community watching this, we wanted to ensure that we kept the hands in the frame and as much of the body as possible, and then punch in for a close-up moment. The other thing is that dialogue among deaf people and non-deaf people happens in your face, and often, there might've been a line for Alaqua where she said, 'I don't even need to say anything. My look will tell you everything that you need to see with the character of Maya.'"

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