“HE’S SET ON VENGEANCE”

MUSTAFA SHAKIR IS BUSHMASTER

Tell us a bit about this new character you’re playing.

I play John McIver, bushmaster. he’s of Caribbean descent. a Jamaican bad boy. Super-intelligent. really good with his hands and feet, and his head. he’s set on vengeance. he’s got some things that went awry in his youth that he has kept close to his heart, and that he has every intention of seeing through. you can call him a villain, he has some inclinations towards behaviours that we would say were rough; but his overall mission is noble.

How does this story compare to the Iron Fist comics where Bushmaster originated?

In the comics, he becomes the head of the Maggia, the european mafia, before he comes to america. We’re not going that route. at least not yet! It’s just loosely based. I don’t have to wear that tight suit! [laughs].

How significant is Luke Cage for an African-American audience?

growing up there weren’t a lot of characters depicted that we could look up to that reflected us back. So in that regard, having Luke Cage, a bullet-proof black man… if you’ve read newspapers, you know that’s huge. trayvon Martin had a hoodie on. geraldo [rivera] said, “[trayvon Martin] was probably trouble. he was wearing a hoodie.” Luke wearing a hoodie, with a heart of gold, does so much for the zeitgeist and for young black men and women.