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There’s been a big racial problem in America since the pilgrims first landed here. At its core of Luke Cage tackles this head on as Black Lives Matter with a superhero as its lead. That’s where Luke Cage excels. The character work, societal, and political writing are really good. However, Luke Cage has brought out some problems that plague these Marvel Netflix shows. And going forward if these shows want to sustain themselves, they need to address these problems head on.
Taking place a few months after Jessica Jones, Luke Cage (played once again by Mike Colter) is hiding out in a barbershop run by Pops (played by Frankie Faison) in Harlem and as a dishwasher at Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes’ nightclub. Stokes, who is a Harlem crime lord, has a gun deal go wrong and it all comes crashing down around him with Luke being dragged in. Eventually, Luke’s past catches up with him and he has to decide whether he wants to flee or be the hero Harlem needs.
The one thing I love about Jessica Jones, Daredevil Season 1 and the first half of Daredevil Season 2 is that the character work is strong for all the characters. All the heroes and villains including the supporting players all have arcs. That doesn’t change for Luke Cage as over the course of the show we get to know the characters intimately. And the cast gets to really shine despite some really clunky exposition and dialogue. Really, the only person who I thought was weak was Theo Rossi. With that said out of all the Marvel Netflix stuff so far Rosario Dawson gives her strongest performance to date in this show. And yes, don’t worry true believers, Luke dons the jeans, yellow blouse, tiara, and bracelets to humorous effect.
This show is unapologetically black. And that is something I rarely see on TV or even in film without it coming off as over the top (looking at you Empire), exploitative, or straight minstrel type shit (looking at you again, Empire). This show has black problems written by black people, not what white people think are black problems. Harlem itself is a character from the atmosphere to various background people who stop Luke in the street. The show explicitly references to Trayvon Martin without saying his name. Luke walks around in a hoodie with bullet holes inspiring the rest of Harlem to wear bullet ridden hoodies. There are a ton of Black Lives Matter moments from police beatings to seeing hands up on black citizens while the police are ready to fire. In later episodes the cops have itchy trigger fingers, ready to shoot Luke on site without question. This show even brings up us blacks referring to each other as niggas. The way it’s done is very thoughtful and made me think long and hard about the social issues around it.
The music is really important to the show as well. Hip-hop and R&B are infused into the show’s soul. Method Man not only shows up to play a part on swaying the public opinion on Luke, but also performs “Bulletproof Love” (a single for the show itself). Harlem’s Paradise nightclub has performers throughout the show including Faith Evans, The Delfonics (!), Charles Bradley (!), Raphael Saadiq (of Lucy Pearl and Tony! Toni! Toné! Fame) and Jidenna (who proves he’s not a one hit wonder performing the very dope "Long Live the Chief") help set the mood. The score is top notch, composed by Adrian Younge (!) and Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest and Lucy Pearl (!!!!!) bring funk, hip-hop, and jazz influences to a very blaxploitation sounding score. The two enlisted the revered Miguel Atwood-Ferguson to conduct a forty piece orchestra to bring their excellent score to life.
But this show is not without its problems. As with the title characters in their retrospective first Seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and with Frank Castle/The Punisher in Daredevil Season 2, Luke is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and becomes the center of a city wide manhunt. It’s become lazy, trite, and played out on the writers’ part as we have to sit through multiple episodes of this. Again. It seems almost like a crutch the showrunners can fall back on to show the heroism of the character while public opinion is not in their favor. There’s better and more inventive ways to execute this and honestly I’m surprised no one else picked up on this. I swear if they do this in Iron Fist, The Punisher or the super team up The Defenders next year (plus two other shows Marvel has in the pipeline with Cloak & Dagger on Freeform and The Runaways on Hulu) I’ll scream my head off.
These shows also have a problem of referencing The Avengers and The Battle of New York as “the incident” as that’s the only thing that has happened in this “connected” universe. So much has happened in this universe and what really boggles the mind is that not once are the events of The Incredible Hulk mentioned since they literally leveled a good portion of 125th street. They desperately need to establish a timeline in which this fits in the timeline as so much has happened since â€the incident”. I truly thought the Sokovia Accords would’ve come into play by now in the Netflix world since “it’s all connected” but I guess not. I also find it weird how people can say Iron Man, Jessica, and Justin Hammer’s names but reference Captain America as “the old guy with the shield” and Thor as “the blonde dude with the magic hammer”.
Which brings me to another point. Kevin Feige has stated that eventually these Netflix heroes or The Defenders if you will, will have to cross over with the films and vice versa as these characters grow more and more in popularity, these Marvel Netflix shows are feeling more and more like must see events as this universe continues to grow ever so rapidly.
At times I wish the show had a few of its important shots on a tripod. They go for the handheld documentary style and when it works, it works. But really besides trying to make it grounded and gritty, there are moments where I thought the importance and emotional underpinning didn’t connect due to the handheld camera work. Let’s be real here and keep it one hunnid, the Bourne series that popularized that style got railed on by its now outdated style with its most recent entry this past summer Jason Bourne.
These Marvel Netflix shows can never stick the landing with the final episodes. The way we leave this show had me scratching my head. This show is one of four that’s supposed to lead into The Defenders, but with the way it ends how are they gonna assemble them all if one is missing? It seemed stupid especially considering what character comes across of in the final montage. It was a real head scratcher and an unnecessary hurdle that will have to be dealt with in the crossover series.
If what showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker says is true, then I don’t see how you can add Iron Fist into the mix to Heroes for Hire in a Season 2 of Luke Cage. Especially with the way this ends and the loose threads that still need to be resolved.
The final problem I have with this show, and it’s a problem with all these Marvel Netflix shows honestly, is that thirteen episodes is too much for these shows. They cannot sustain themselves for the run of thirteen episodes as you start to get extraneous material used to pad out episodes. I liked Stranger Things a lot, not as much as most people, but what made that one of Netflix’s best shows is the eight episode length as opposed to elven to thirteen episodes. There’s less filler to pad out the run of the show so you can get to the meat of the story and characters even despite that show’s shortcomings.
All in all though Luke Cage is a great addition to the Marvel Netfilx cannon. Despite the shortcomings I really loved the first seven or eight episodes of the show and it is some of the best work Netflix and Marvel have done so far. I look forward to what lies ahead especially with the various Easter eggs laid about (Colleen Wing!) that will pop up in Iron First, The Defenders, or the future Seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. It’s about time we had a smart, black superhero show speak about relevant issues that sadly will stay relevant. ------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ
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