Title: TV Series Feature: What Luke Cage Means For The Future of Superheroes On Screen
Author: Khanival
Recovered Author: Khanival
Published Date: 2016-10-07
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2016/10/tv-series-feature-what-luke-cage-means-for-the-future-of-superheroes-on-screen
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170705164319id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2016/10/tv-series-feature-what-luke-cage-means-for-the-future-of-superheroes-on-screen/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Movie Feature
Tags: Alfre Woodard, Black Lives Matter, black panther, Cheo Hodari Coker, Comic Book Movies, Comic Book Series, daredevil, feature, Geek Node, Harlem, jessica jones, luke cage, Mahershala Ali, marvel, Mike Colter, netflix, news, season 1, South Africa, Superheroes, The Avengers, the cw, The Flash

- Khanival

- 9 months ago

- 0 0

If you haven’t heard about the hype surrounding Marvel and Netflix’s new superhero series Luke Cage, you’re either living under a dome locked from your preps for Rage, nursing a hangover or you’ve lost some kind of connection to the internet on both your PC and mobile.

Right now every news feed and timeline is filled with the amazingness of this unadulterated, raw, badass Marvel hero, who “had apparently brought down Netflix’s servers for over two hours,” according to Esquire.com and many other reports, when the first season was released.

Now, for many comic book movie followers, the name might not ring a bell. But, if you’ve been following Marvel and Netflix’s partnership so far with their other flagship shows, such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, you would have seen him pop up in the latter somewhere. Not until now, has the world sat up and recognised the enormity of the situation though.

Luke Cage is based on Marvel’s comic book series of the same name, which is set in the neighbourhood of Harlem, where Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is laying low as a fugitive when he inherited superhuman strength and ultra thick (you can call it bulletproof) skin, after being experimented on in prison.

Now, for years and years, there’s been mounting pressure on the big Hollywood studios, especially Marvel, about the lack of diverse characters in their superhero franchises. Marvel and DC have both been called out for “playing it safe” with tried and tested lead characters as well (WE’VE HAD THREE DIFFERENT F***ING SPIDER-MEN).

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For too long, Rhodey (War Machine) had to dance and sing around his master, just so he could “borrow” one of his prized suits. Wherever Steve Rogers (Captain America) ran, Sam Wilson (Falcon) had to FLY… literally (thanks Chris Rock). Hell, Mandela… err, I mean Heimdall was the door man for a universe filled with “gods”. But, this year, we had a glimpse of what could be with Black Panther who, in my opinion, was the highlight of Captain America: Civil War (even though he had a shitty Xhosa accent, but then again he is from the fictional land of Wakanda). But now, enter Luke Cage.

As soon as you’re done with episode 1, you’ll already have realised the world of potential, excitement, adventure and action that’s bubbling under Harlem, with its culture, characters, music and story lines that will make you think “What the f$@/ took Marvel so long?!?!?”, as you grab yourself some more popcorn to start getting into a binge session of this amazing show.

You’ll notice a stellar supporting cast as well, with an incredible villain in Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes (played by Mahershala “He’s Everywhere Now” Ali), plus Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard) who stands up strongly as a politician in Harlem alongside Stokes, followed by NYPD detective Misty Knight (Simone Dissick). Let’s not forget the main man behind the scenes, series creator and writer Cheo Hodari Coker who, according to CBR.com, hopes that the series will create social awareness through “community power.”

After becoming the first African American woman to win Best Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy’s in 2015, Viola Davis stated in her acceptance speech; “The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” The same can almost be said about superhero films and series, as Luke Cage opens a whole new door to more diverse directors, writers, producers and storylines in the realm of the superhero genre. When was the last time you saw or heard of a black man telling a large group of A-List superheroes what do in front of a camera?

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Thankfully, the solo Black Panther film coming out in 2018 will be directed and written by Creed director Ryan Coogler and this star-studded, gorgeous cast will appear in it too.

From left to right: Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and cast Danai Gurira, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita N’yongo & Michael B. Jordan. (Image: Getty Images/ Alberto E Rodriguez / Disney)

Don’t forget Zendaya is also rumoured to be Peter’s love interest in the (another!) new Spider-Man solo film in 2017. On the other side of the comic book cine-verse, we also have Cyborg on the horizon in the Justice League movie, plus a solo Flash movie directed by Rick Famuyiwa, and we’re about to see Wally West finally become Kid Flash on CW’s The Flash TV series.

The overwhelming response to Luke Cage and the destruction of the servers of an overpriced streaming service has proven that diverse protagonists in comic book movies CAN and WILL be successful. This is a huge step for the future of superhero franchises to come, hopefully which brings change from both Marvel and DC. Heroes that are truly representative to everyone in society and heroes that all children and adults can finally look up to. Bring on Riri Williams as Ironheart (the black female Iron Man) to lead the Avengers in Marvel’s next phase, Kamala Khan as Ms Marvel (a Pakistani American version) and finally, a better Green Lantern in the form of John Stewart.

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Khanival

Videographer / Entertainment Author

Adventure, wackiness, fun and bizarre. Things you will find that exist in Khanival’s world. Loves moving pictures (also known as movies or films to some) and is passionate about visual storytelling, from filmmaking to video editing and even photography. Fellow geeks will be invited and informed, quite honestly, into cinema’s latest offerings and more in a wonderful, yet strange "Khanival".
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Article Tags:
Alfre Woodard · Black Lives Matter · black panther · Cheo Hodari Coker · Comic Book Movies · Comic Book Series · daredevil · feature · Geek Node · Harlem · jessica jones · luke cage · Mahershala Ali · marvel · Mike Colter · netflix · news · season 1 · South Africa · Superheroes · The Avengers · the cw · The Flash

Article Categories:
Movie Feature · TV Series Feature
