Mike Colter Says He Knew Luke Cage Cancellation Was Coming

When Iron Fist was cancelled shortly after the well-received second season debuted on Netflix, the writing was on the fall for the future of Marvel Television on the streaming platform. And even though there were plans to continue Luke Cage for Season 3, series star Mike Colter was well aware that the show was likely next to get the axe.

Colter appeared at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour to promote his new CBS series Evil, and he was asked about his feelings about the cancellation of Luke Cage. The actor revealed that he anticipated the show’s demise in advance.

“I think I probably had a little more intel about it because I felt like the delays and the postponement of our starting was starting to become a little bit habitual and I had a feeling,” Colter said. “So while that was happening, I was doing some different little projects and just working, and I’m always the kind of person, I never count my chickens, as they say, before they hatch. Everyone thought it was a guaranteed success so it was going to just be picked up.”

Work was already underway on new episodes when the series was cancelled, and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker was hard at work in the writers room. And while Colter anticipated Netflix cancelling Luke Cage, most everyone else involved were stunned by the news.

“We were internally picked up,” Colter said. “We were greenlit. Everyone at Netflix, everyone at Marvel, so it was a foregone conclusion that we start. But again, I’m one of those people, I don’t know if it’s pragmatic or pessimistic, however you want to describe it, until I’m on set and we’re filming, I don’t believe anything. That’s how I am so it didn’t catch me completely off guard and I was completely focused on family. My daughter was born. I was completely doing something else when it happened.”

Colter went on to explain that despite the progress being stifled, he could see himself returning to the role in the future.

“It was a process that was happening,” Colter said. “Season 3 was greenlit. They were in the process of greenlighting scripts, approving the scripts and stuff like that. It just kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed for a lot of reasons. So it’s unfortunate but I feel like we left people wanting more as opposed to staying too long. It’s unfortunate but like I said, it’s always a possibility that something like that can come around again. Just not right now.”

Colter’s new series Evil premieres this fall on CBS.

[h/t /Film]