Who he is: Shades, a.k.a. Hernan Alvarez
His power: No real superpowers, but he’s a fairly brilliant schemer and manipulator who knows how to work people. He also looks super rad in a pair of Wayfarers.
His story: As seen in Marvel’s Luke Cage, Shades was an inmate at Seagate Prison alongside Luke Cage (Carl Lucas at the time). He worked with a guard to help arrange prison fights, and when Cage/Lucas refused to participate and threatened to expose the operation, Shades helped beat him so close to death that his life was only saved by crazy superpower-granting science experiments. Shades then pops up in Harlem, working as a heavy for Diamondback. He joins Cottonmouth’s criminal empire to help him get things back on track, and though his relatively unique level of competency makes him seem like a trustworthy member of the crew, he still helps Mariah Dillard cover up Cottonmouth’s death when she murders him. It turns out that Shades has a bit of a thing for Mariah, and he dedicates all of his criminal skills to helping her fill the power vacuum left through Diamondback’s absence when he loses his eventual battle to Cage. As the season ends, he and Mariah seem to be ruling Cottonmouth’s old empire side by side.
Played by: Theo Rossi
Currently, Shades is: Scheming inside Harlem’s Paradise nightclub, most likely.
Where will we see him next? Unknown, but if Luke Cage gets another season he’ll definitely show up.