We’ve been getting a ton of details on ‘Daredevil‘ but now Marvel and Netflix have officially announced who they have signed up to be Luke Cage!
This ex-con turned super hero has long ago evolved into a complex character who suffers from wanting to do the right thing for the world and caring for his family. Now we’ve finally been told who will be playing him! Mike Colter (‘The Good Wife’, ‘Men in Black 3‘) is going to be taking on this iconic hero and will first be introduced across from Krysten Ritter (‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’,’Big Eyes’) in ‘Jessica Jones‘ before being shining as the lead in his own series.
According to Executive Producer/Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, “Mike embodies the strength, edge and depth of Luke Cage. We’re excited to have him bring this iconic Marvel character to life.”
“Fans have longed to see Luke Cage and in Mike we’ve found the perfect actor,” said Jeph Loeb, Executive Producer/Marvel’s Head of Television. “Viewers will get to meet Luke Cage in ‘Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones,’ and experience why he is such an important super hero in the Marvel mythos.”
In the comics, Cage started off as a gang member that eventually lands in prison. While there, he volunteers to be a test subject for an experiment in which someone is trying to recreate cell regeneration using a form of the super soldier serum. When the experiment goes wrong, Cage gets super human strength and durability. While not initially a straight up super hero, he comes in contact with enough and the experience changes him so that he wants to do the right thing.
“With great power comes great…” Wait, wrong New York based superhero.
From ex-Con, to Hero for Hire, to Thunderbolts, to Avenger (the original, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, and Dark Avengers) to a few other random teams, Cage has made his mark on the Marvel Universe. As a member of The Avengers, he is joining a long line of many that had started off by falling on the wrong side of the law and became a hero much as Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, and others have previously done.
Of course, during his adventures he also becomes associated with Jessica Jones which is actually how we’ll be introduced to him in this series. The two are friends but actually don’t end up more until after the they have a drunken one night stand. As they have known one another for years, they fall into a complicated yet fulfilling relationship that eventually blossoms into what appears to be love. What is fun about this is that when Jones was cast on the show, it was announced that Colter was actually reading lines across from Ritter. At the time, there was no confirmation that he would have the part but it seems that they may have been testing the chemistry of the two together on screen.
Obviously, the two were quite compatible!
After all four series of ‘Daredevil’, ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘Iron Fist’, and ‘Luke Cage’ are introduced we will see the heroes join up as ‘The Defenders‘ where they will need to work together as a team in order to save New York (and possibly the world) from a great threat.
Are you looking forward to Luke Cage hitting the small screen on Netflix? Do you think Coltor is the right choice for the role? Most importantly do you think we’ll see a crossover of The Defenders showing up in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe down the line? Share your thoughts below True Believers!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel
