Luke Cage: 5 Things We Want to See in Season 1

Harlem World

Harlem World

It's no secret that Marvel Studios has been trying to literally diversify its brand for the last couple of years, adding more heroes of color and the female gender to the slate of TV and film projects being developed. Black Panther is already poised to be a breakout movie star, but only Luke Cage will explore the community and culture that is strictly African-American.

Nothing tells the story of both African-American prosperity and struggle like the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. From the roaring '20s to the drug epidemic '80s and the gentrification of the '00s, the Harlem of today is also very different than what it used to be. As someone who was living in Hell's Kitchen, I can say that Marvel's Netflix shows aren't necessarily "True to life" about the neighborhoods they depict; however, in Luke Cage's case, Marvel would do well to give Harlem its proper range, depth, and grandeur as both a historic setting and window into a specific cultural world.

A Soundtrack Worth Buying

A Soundtrack Worth Buying

Luke Cage has already done itself a favor by embracing the hip-hop culture of its hero and setting. The trailers and teasers for the show have employed some hot tracks (both old and new) - while news that the soundtrack for the series is being handled by producer/composer Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest has brought serious street cred to show.

If you aren't familiar with Younge, he's gained acclaim for turning albums of rappers like Ghostface Killah into operatic musical movies - and Muhammad is an icon in his own right. If the pair can do what fans and hip-hop heads expect them to, then Luke Cage's soundtrack could be a hot commodity in and of itself - move over, Guardians of the Galaxy mixtapes.

In addition to making more Marvel monies, we hope the hip-hop flavor tastes right with the supeerhero material it's spread over; nothing worse than when the two don't mix (looking at you, Amazing Spider-Man 2).

Great Villain(s)

If there is one thing that Marvel's Netflix series have done better than so many other superhero TV and movie properties it is introducing and developing quality villains for the heroes to face. Daredevil has given us a great rebooted version of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and even a new Punisher (Jon Bernthal); Jessica Jones held its own with Kilgrave (David Tenant), still one of the most frightening and brilliantly twisted serial killers we've seen on modern TV. That's a pretty high bar for Luke Cage to match - but we have faith.

The Luke Cage trailer focuses on the ruthless Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, a Harlem gang lord (and former cohort of Cage) that will be played by House of Cards star Mahershala Ali. We've also seen set photos of Boardwalk Empire's Erik LaRay Harvey as Diamondback, Cottonmouth's blade-wielding henchman, who happens to Luke's former best friend.

However, the real thing we have our eye on is Alfe Woodard, whose Mariah Dillard character could be sheepskin for a ruthless and terrifying crime boss - someone we're hoping will become one of the MCU's first great female villains.

Superman Action

Superman Action

No, Luke Cage can't fly, or shoot lasers from his eyes - but bullets do bounce off of him, and he can bend steel with his hands, meaning that there's real opportunity for Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker to give us some Superman-style sequences during the series' action bits.

Now that doesn't just mean cool superpowered fights; having Luke Cage as a working-class urban Superman should offer just as much opportunity for clever application of super strength/invulnerability. A teaser trailer already gave us a good example: Cage taking a barrage of bullets in a gym before telling the group of stunned shooters that he's tired of having to buy new clothes. The kind of fun you wish Henry Cavill's Superman got to have more of...

Heroes for Hire Slide 5

Heroes for Hire

Fans of Luke Cage on the comic book page know that the hero rarely rolls solo: since his earliest days, Cage has found comfort (and revenue) in the company of other crime-fighters, working under the banner of "Heroes for Hire." The ranks of HfH mainly consists of Cage and his good buddy Danny Rand (aka the star of Marvel's Iron Fist Netflix series), but also came to include characters like Misty Knight, who will not-so-coincidentally make her debut in the Luke Cage Netflix series, played by actress Simone Missick.

We know that this first season of Luke Cage should probably focus pretty heavily on the man himself, but by the time his story arc is coming to its end, we would definitely like to see extensive foundation - if not an outright reveal - for the Heroes for Hire to make their MCU debut. By the time The Defenders team-up rolls around, maybe Cage, Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock could all split costs of a new office space (that NYC rent be too damn high...).

Luke Cage season 1 premieres on Netflix on September 30th, 2016. Daredevil season 1 & 2 and Jessica Jones season 1 are now available on Netflix. The Defenders and Iron Fist arrive in 2017. Release dates for Jessica Jones season 2, The Punisher and Daredevil season 3 are TBD.