Does Echo Have the Same Powers as Taskmaster? Who Is Stronger?

Echo was a fairly unknown character in the comics, except if you’ve been strictly following street-level superheroes. However, now that her show has been released, she is bound to rise in popularity, and naturally, fans have a lot of questions about her. Echo and Taskmaster are very similar in one aspect, and due to that, we’re going to compare them and explain who might be more powerful between them.

Echo and Taskmaster in the comics have the exact same power

Echo has a pretty humble skillset in the comics when all things are taken into account. She was born with photographic reflexes, which means that she can perfectly memorize, copy, and replicate her opponent’s moves. This led her to master various combat skills and to become one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the comics. At one point in the comics, Echo was the vessel for Phoenix Force and she had comics powers, but after she lost the Phoenix Force she reverted back to her regular human form and this is pretty much the only twist on her powers that she ever had.

Taskmaster was also born with photographic reflexes, but there is a twist to his character that Echo lacked. Tony possesses an artificially enhanced physiology that grants him the ability to duplicate skills and abilities he witnesses, whether in person or on television. After injecting himself with an experimental Nazi version of the Super-Soldier Serum, his brain capacity significantly increased, allowing him to absorb knowledge instantly. The serum also altered his brain chemistry, making him hypercognitive in terms of skill observation and retention. This unique serum, derived from the adrenal steroid cortisol, even boosted Tony’s short-term memory.

So you can see how Taskmaster was always more powerful between the two since he is quite literally Maya Lopez on steroids.

Taskmaster and Echo in the MCU

Now, the MCU changed quite a lot of details regarding both characters, most notable being that Taskmaster was genderswapped. Taskmaster, in the context of the ‘Black Widow’ film, possesses Photographic Reflexes. This ability allows her to perfectly replicate the fighting styles and movements of others by observing them. She can retain this information and use replicated styles against different opponents, even predicting their attacks. Taskmaster has demonstrated the ability to mimic the fighting styles of various characters such as Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Winter Soldier, and Spider-Man. It’s important to note that while she can replicate styles, she cannot copy innate powers, and her effectiveness may be limited without access to the same equipment.

Additionally, Taskmaster has enhanced strength, courtesy of a chip in her neck, enabling her to deliver powerful strikes and throw her shield with considerable force. The electronic chip is implanted in her neck, and her ability is further augmented by the heads-up display (HUD) in her helmet.

Now when it comes to Echo, when she debuted in ‘Hawkeye’ not much emphasis was put on her powers and abilities. Before her own standalone show was released, the director revealed that she would be overhauling Echo’s powers since she considered photographic reflexes a bit boring, since it was already done in the MCU.

In the ‘Echo’ show, we’ve seen that Maya can draw upon the powers of her ancestors to enhance her physiology, grant herself super strength and durability, and enhance her marksmanship skills. Echo can also receive visions from her ancestors and has some kind of telepathic power, which allows her to get inside Kingpin’s mind in an attempt to heal him. Echo can also experience the memories of her ancestors as if they were her own.

Both characters have been changed in the MCU, and the difference between what both can do is smaller than in the comics.

So, between Echo & Taskmaster, who would win?

Honestly in the comics, it’s pretty clear cut that Tony would win. Tony has loads more experience and enhanced physiology and can not only replicate the movements but predict them as well. There’s really nothing all that notable about Echo in the comics, she is also physically weaker as she lacks the superhuman edge.

In the MCU, things are a bit complicated. Echo proved that she could take on some of the most notable fighters in the MCU, and she stood her ground. Where Taskmaster has Red Room training, Echo does have ancestral empowerment that gives her that superhuman edge. Taskmaster has a chip that provides her with superhuman strength, while Echo has superhuman strength through Chafa.

All things considered, I still think that Taskmaster would win in this fight in the MCU as well due to more experience in fighting and the fact that she’s memorized a lot more moves over the ages than Echo.

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