Spoilers ahead for Echo on Disney+.

Marvel’s Echo is finally here! The series starring Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez is not only the MCU’s first bingeable series, but the first to have a mature rating. While Echo has been greatly advertised as taking place on a more gritty side of the street, the latest of Marvel TV shows opened on a rather supernatural front. When CinemaBlend spoke to Echo director and producer Sydney Freeland, she shared with us why she chose to open the show how she did.

Echo opens with a group of indigenous people rising from magical pools. One woman decides to drink from one of the pools, leading to a bird appearing in front of her and then flying away. Suddenly, the group’s home begins to furiously shake before they are transported to a new place, blooming with greenery and the gaze of the sun. Their clay forms begin to melt away to reveal their human forms. The three-minute sequence leads into young Maya’s origin story. What was that all about?