Marvel has been on fire as part of its partnership with Netflix. Both seasons of Daredevil were smash hits mixing gritty action and legal dramas, even getting an honest to goodness Punisher spin-off. And then there’s Jessica Jones, the psychological thriller that not only introduced us to the title character, but also Luke Cage, the unbreakable strongman and love interest for Jones. Played by Mike Colter, Cage will soon star in his own Netflix series, and at Comic-Con 2016 Colter was joined by the rest of the cast and executive producer Jeph Loeb to give attendees the first look at Netflix’s Luke Cage.
The panel had surprise appearances all around and ended with back-to-back teaser trailers for both Iron Fist and The Defenders, but the majority of the panel was given to Luke Cage, with showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and stars Mike Colter, Mahershala (Stokes) Aliwords, Simone (Misty Knight) Missick, Frank (Detective Scarfe) Whaley, and the esteemed Alfre Woodard, all of whom seemed very pleased to be representing the show at Comic-Con 2016.
Executive Producer Coker talked about how this series definitely has a feel for modern times, saying, “The world is ready for a bulletproof black man.” Coker has been a fan of Luke Cage since the hero’s “Power Man” days, and fought hard to make Luke Cage a reality on Netflix. Coker said his approach included leading the “Wu Tang-ification of Marvel,” and that was easy to tell from the clips of the series teased at Comic-Con. Just take a look at the teaser, set beautifully to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s iconic “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
Everyone was very proud of their work on the show, with Woodard showing her intensity and range as one of the lead villains of the show. Woodard also talked up the setting of Luke Cage, describing Harlem all its own. Meanwhile, Simone Missick seems like she’s quickly getting used to Misty Knight despite being unfamiliar with the hard-nosed detective before getting the part. One of the Comic-Con exclusive clips included a pretty steamy romantic scene between Misty and Luke, just in case you were worried Mike Colter wasn’t going to take his shirt off.
The other quick scene shown exclusively at Comic-Con 2016 features Aliwords Stokes, aka Cottonmouth. In a rather brutal scene, he introduces himself as the king of his domain and beats information out of an underling, trying to find the location of some stolen money. You can bet that the answer is Luke Cage, but let’s not tell Cottonmouth that.
Overall it was a very impressive showing for Luke Cage, and the Marvel/Netflix collaboration seems stronger than ever. The series will debut Septemeber 30, so start planning your binge-watching schedule. In the meantime, take a look at this sizzle reel for Marvel’s Netflix series and see if you can spot the new Luke Cage footage included.