Luke Cage has drawn on Blaxploitation films for its visual style and its themes. The character in the comic books was created at the height of Blaxploitation’s popularity and the character had to adapt as the popularity of Blaxploitation faded. Luke Cage needs to adopt a new style after getting rid of this season’s…
I fully understand that there are some among you in the comments that disagree with my hot takes on Luke Cage this season. My main struggle is that Luke Cage wants to be two different shows. It wants to be a plot driven intrigue, but it also wants to elevate itself from other entries in that genre. It wants to be a…
I know it must get a little repetitive to read these reviews where I keep saying that I want something more from Luke Cage. I’ve been more critical of the season because I know that there is a confident, sexy, socially conscious show buried deep in Luke Cage. Even though I’m not the season’s biggest fan, this episode…
After the emotional thrill ride of the last episode and the threat of Bushmaster on the loose, “The Main Ingredient” felt like an unbalanced detour. There was plenty of tension and emotion built up in the last episode with the disappearance of Bushmaster but this episode takes Luke on a side quest with Danny Rand.…
Luke Cage wants to position itself as a series about oppressed people and resistance. The first season utilized the imagery of a Black man in a hoodie riddled with bullet holes to illustrate that. The imagery of a Black man in a hoodie is so potent because of the pain and violence associated with that image,…
Even a mediocre episode of Luke Cage feels like a really good episode of any police procedural. It makes sense that the most satisfying moments to be had here involve watching Simone Missick as a solving crime and kicking ass. She’s consistently one of the strongest players on Luke Cage but it still often feels like…
The issue with Luke Cage being the least interesting character on the series could be mitigated if the series used the other characters wisely. Unfortunately, Luke Cage is devoting too much time to Mariah and Shades when their story lines are no longer interesting. Alfre Woodard is doing her best but Mariah has been…
We’re almost at the midpoint of the season and by the midpoint of any work of fiction, we should be turning some emotional corner. Things are changing and the stakes are being raised considerably. The issues that have been simmering under the surface should be starting to bubble up. This episode sets us up for Luke’s…
When Marvel’s Luke Cage premiered in 2016, it was met with much excitement and hope, in part because Mike Colter had made a hell of a first impression in season one of Marvel’s Jessica Jones. But as the Black Lives Matter movement grew, a black superhero, one who’s bulletproof, resonated for reasons beyond the page…
Episode 1: “Soul Brother #1” | Episode 2: “Straighten It Out” | Episode 3: “Wig Out” | Episode 4: “I Get Physical” | Episode 5: “All Souled Out” | Episode 6: “The Basement” | Episode 7: “On And On” | Episode 8: “If It Ain’t Rough, It Ain’t Right” | Episode 9: “For Pete’s Sake” | Episode 10: “The Main Ingredient” |…
Luke Cage is a lot of things: a crime drama, a comic book show, a modern take on blaxploitation. But this episode reveals that the writers and director of Luke Cage are able to deliver a taste of all these genres in one episode and pull off a devious misdirection. The first portion of “All Souled Out” is a light…
Because Netflix series are intended for binge-watching, it’s difficult for a single episode to stand out. Episode three of Luke Cage was a tremendous episode. The episode that would follow a stand-out episode would naturally feel like a bit of a letdown after such an emotional episode. “I Get Physical” features the…
There’s a lot written on “Netflix’s Strategy” to get viewers hooked. Pacing the season out to have the most impact on the viewer and carefully placing huge moments to get the viewers hooked to finish the season. Netflix also has a tendency for their series to feel aimless in the middle of the season, and season one of …
When it comes to comic book villains, there are two tactics to take when it comes to their backstory. One: to carefully and deliberately lay out every single part of the character’s backstory so the audience can understand each nuance of the villain’s motivations. Then there is the strategy of The Joker in The Dark…
After the mystical and enigmatic happenings in The Defenders, it’s a real treat to return to the down-to-earth setting of Luke Cage. The subject matter feels familiar; the thrilling chess game of the underworld, dirty cops, drugs, stylish musical performances, and jazz and that’s a good thing. The season two premiere…
The hero of Harlem, Luke Cage, returns to Netflix June 22 with its second season. The last we saw Cage, he was punching his way through the criminal syndicate The Hand as part of Marvel’s 2017 team-up miniseries The Defenders, but his first solo outing premiered almost two years ago. So before you head back to Harlem,…
Like its lead character, Marvel’s Luke Cage is aware of the upward climb it’s facing in season two. Luke (Mike Colter) cleared his name in Defenders, but when the new episodes begin, he’s wrestling with his newfound fame and obligations, the return of his estranged father (the late, great Reg E. Cathey), and, oh yeah,…
As its plan to release 1,000 original movies and tv series by the end of 2018 reaches the halfway point, Netflix’s June offerings are, as they have been for a while now, heavy on the original content. There’s some good stuff in there, too: OG true-crime phenomenon The Staircase debuts new episodes on June 8, and…
“Sometimes brutality gets shit done.” That mission statement is spoken by a shirtless Mike Colter in character as Luke Cage, who faces a new threat that might actually be his equal in the second season of his eponymous Netflix series. That threat comes in the form of John McIver (Mustafa Shakir), a.k.a. Bushmaster, a…
Just a few days after Netflix released a cool trailer for season two of Marvel’s Luke Cage, Deadline is reporting that Annabella Sciorra has now joined the cast. The story says she’ll be playing Rosalie Carbone, a “dangerous downtown criminal underworld power player” who is looking to expand her evil empire into…
