Myles Aronowitz/Netflix
Even if you haven't seen Luke Cage's (Mike Colter) introduction on 'Jessica Jones' or read the comic books, 'Luke Cage' is must-see TV.
"The world is ready for a bulletproof black man."
The words that Luke Cage executive producer Cheo Coker said during the Netflix series' Comic-Con panel this past summer ring all the more true months later, as more and more reports of unarmed black citizens being shot by police surface. Although Coker admits to The Hollywood Reporter that he first began developing Netflix's third Marvel show about an indestructible black superhero long before this disturbing issue became a national epidemic, he is still all the more proud to be able to give a voice to those who may be afraid to stand up in protest of these injustices.
"The show is really about what happens when, in this world where people are afraid to speak out because if you look at what's happening in real life in any community of color that are facing these issues, when you have people that break the law and the whole thing of not snitching which is true of any community that deals with this, how does that change when you introduce a bulletproof element?" Coker says. "How do both police enforcement and criminal enforcement change when you introduce a character who can't be swayed by normal means? How does that affect everything and what is the ripple effect of that?"
And that's why Luke Cage is must-see TV, even for those who haven't read the comic books, or even for those who haven't tuned in to watch Netflix's first two Marvel shows, Daredevil (seasons one and two) and Jessica Jones. Although Netflix is creating their own shared Marvel Universe on TV with connected stories and characters crossing over between all the series, Luke Cage stands out on its own and can be viewed without watching the previous Netflix series.
To make that a more digestible possibility, The Hollywood Reporter rounded up everything you need to know before streaming Luke Cage so you don't have to consult the comic books or spend roughly 40 hours binge-watching the other Marvel series.
Who is Luke Cage?
Luke (Mike Colter) first appeared in the first season of Jessica Jones. Introduced as merely a love interest for Jessica (Krysten Ritter), the super strong and indestructible Luke was the owner of a bar named after himself: Luke's. One night he saw Jessica looking through the window of the bar and invited her in. Although the two were both cagey about their pasts, they ended up sleeping together that same night. Since Luke had superhuman strength, he was worried about hurting Jessica, but she told him she was fine.
After getting questioned by the police (which Luke always tried to avoid by keeping himself out of trouble) about Jessica, Luke confronted her and found out she had been hired as a private investigator by the jealous husband of a woman he had slept with. That husband then came to his bar later that night with a group of friends and tried to attack Luke, and Jessica intervened, believing that he needed her help. During the (really unfair) fight, they both realized that the other had superhuman strength, and Jessica saw a blade shatter against Luke's neck. Afterwards, they continued to test each other's strength sexually, excited to find another enhanced human out in the world.
Jessica later found a photo of Luke's late wife, Reva Connors (Parisa Fitz-Henley), in his medicine cabinet, and he told her she had died in a bus crash years ago, but Jessica got upset and left. She came back to his bar the next day, and they slept together again. Afterwards, they discussed the case that Luke had been questioned about by the police, and Jessica confessed that she was investigating another enhanced human, a man with mind control powers. But then she broke things off with him, claiming he had already suffered enough because of her. Luke assumed she couldn't deal with his dead wife, and so he let her go.
While investigating his wife's death more, Luke ended up hiring Jessica to help find someone who had information about it. Luke also found out from someone else that Jessica had spent months under the influence of a man named Kilgrave (David Tennant), the same enhanced human Jessica had told him about. After learning she had been continuously raped and psychologically tortured, Luke confronted Jessica and apologized and tried to show that he was there for her. They then found the person Luke was looking for, and as payment, he learned that the bus driver who hit his wife was drunk during the accident and he still worked as a bus driver now despite that.
Furious, Luke tracked down the driver and angrily threw him through the windshield of a bus. Jessica showed up to stop him, and as Luke was going to kill the driver, she confessed she was the one who killed his wife. Kilgrave had forced her to hit her so hard that it stopped her heart. Luke tried to confront her the next day, but instead found Kilgrave. He tried to kill the man who ordered his wife's death, but Kilgrave used his mind-control powers to stop Luke and instead got answers about why he was being attacked by a stranger.
While under Kilgrave's control, Luke learned that his wife had actually discovered the origins of Kilgrave's power and obtained video footage of him as a child being experimented on by his own parents, and that's why he had her killed. When Kilgrave learned that Luke and Jessica had been in a relationship, he grew jealous and ordered Luke to blow up his bar while inside of it. Since he was indestructible, he survived the explosion, and Jessica helped him escape. She told him to move away, open a new bar and forget all about her now that Kilgrave knew who he was, but he told her that he needed to help her stop Kilgrave for what he did to both of them and his wife. However, unbeknownst to Jessica, Luke was still under Kilgrave's control. He followed orders to tell Jessica that he forgave her for killing his wife, and the two kept searching for Kilgrave.
They tracked Kilgrave to an empty venue, onstage, calling for Jessica. That's when Kilgrave gleefully told Jessica that Luke was still under his control, and he made the two fight in front of him. During the fight, Luke told Jessica the truth: He could never forgive her for killing his wife. During the fight, Luke knocked out two police officers before Jessica could knock him out with a shotgun blast to his chin. She took him to the hospital where Daredevil doctor Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) agreed to help him while protecting his secret.
While Jessica dealt with and eventually killed Kilgrave, Claire waited by Luke's side until he woke up. She informed him that Jessica was being arrested for Kilgrave's murder. Although Luke wanted to turn himself in, Claire told him that would only result in his own arrest. He disappeared when she went to get him a glass of water. And that's where Luke's story will pick up in Luke Cage.
Jessica Jones ends, Luke Cage begins
Now it's time to get to know the man behind the strength and bulletproof skin. Luke Cage will delve into who Luke is as a man, his values, his past (including how he became an ex-con) and his potential to become a hero to his community in his own right. But it will also explore the question of what it means to become a hero, and if he has an obligation to become one for Harlem or if he has a right to keep his head down and live his life for himself.
The show will pick up months after Jessica Jones ended, with Luke finding himself up against corruption within politics and gangsters running the criminal underworld in Harlem as well as "his own demons." The drama also stars Mahershala Ali as crime boss Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, Alfre Woodard as his politician cousin Mariah Dillard, Simone Missick as Harlem police detective Misty Knight, Frank Whaley as Misty's partner Scarfe and Theo Rossi as "Shades" Alvarez, a smart and manipulative criminal with ties to Luke's past.
Luke's comic book history
So where does Luke come from in the comics? Also known as Power Man, the character was first introduced in 1972's Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1. Created by Archie Goodwin, John Romita Sr. and George Tuska, Luke was strongly inspired by the Blaxpoitation film trend of the '70s. While Luke wasn't the first black superhero published in comic books (that honor goes to Black Panther), he was the first one of his kind: a street-level hero who showed that superheroes can also be flawed, suffering from the same human issues as those without powers. He also paved the way for more relatable black comic book characters to come onto the scene, like Misty Knight and Storm, the first two black female superheroes.
When the Blaxpoitation trend faded, Luke was then paired up with Marvel character (and Netflix's next major series star) Iron Fist (although the martial arts trend that influenced that character's creator was also fading). In an effort to keep Luke Cage from cancelation, the character was moved away from his Blaxpoitation roots by saying his catchphrase "Sweet Christmas" less, expanding his vocabulary and having the character destroy his own superhero costume for an upgraded version.
In the comics, Luke Cage's real name was Carl Lucas and he spent his youth running with a gang. He dreamed of becoming a crime boss when he was older until he realized how much his crimes were hurting his family. He goes legitimate, but his continued friendship with Willis Stryker drags him down. When Willis' girlfriend, Reva Connors, breaks up with him, he believes Carl is to blame and plants heroin in his apartment, leading Carl to get arrested and sent to prison. Sentenced to Seagate Prison in Georgia, Carl becomes a target for a sadistic guard.
When Carl is recruited for an experimental program by a doctor in the prison, the guard sabotages the experiment, hoping to kill Carl in the process. Instead, Carl becomes super strong and indestructible. He escapes prison and returns to his hometown of Harlem to use his newfound powers for financial gain. He adopts the name Luke Cage and goes up against his former friend Willis who has become a crime boss named Diamondback. In addition to Iron Fist, Luke has also worked with other superheroes like Black Panther, the Defenders team-up, the Thunderbolts, the Avengers, and even Jessica Jones, with whom he has a daughter.
Luke Cage season one begins streaming on Friday, Sept. 30 on Netflix.
