Luke Cage takeover
LUKE CAGE: MARVEL’S HERO BACK FOR AN EXCITING SECOND SEASON
‘When I say the show is inclusively black, we do not water down the culture at all.’
Comic book fans most likely spent this past weekend watching the second season of Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix, which was released across the world on June 22.
The TV series, set in the New York neighbourhood of Harlem, follows the life of former convict Luke Cage (played by Mike Colter) who after a sabotaged experiment, has super strength and unbreakable skin. While trying to escape these powers, he settles in New York but soon his rippling muscles causes him to confront quite a few demons.
The second season sees Luke, the hero of Harlem, being taken down a peg, and to set the tone for the season Charlie’s Angels and SouthLAnd actress Lucy Liu is tasked to direct the episode with Cheo Hodari Coker returning as showrunner.
Speaking at Netflix’s See What’s Next – the upfront event for the streaming service – in April, Liu and Coker reveal why the second season is important.
Liu said: “This is a wonderful opportunity because Cheo and I worked together before [on SouthLAnd] – that was a very specific show that was off-the-cuff and I learned a lot from that.
“Though it was scripted, that really taught me how to be a director. Working with Cheo was so special. He really said to me ‘I want you to bring your own creative essence to this [Luke Cage]’. As director that’s what you want.”
Coker’s idea seems to have worked out great, because already Luke Cage is well received by film, TV series critics. Their partneship was the catalyst that helped set the tone for the new season.
Coker said: “The thing both of us learned on SouthLAnd is that you prepare heavily, then it allows you to play, to be free. That’s why I brought her from SouthLAnd into the Luke Cage world, because I knew she would flourish.”
It makes sense because Luke Cage has become a cornerstone reshaping cultural and race narratives in America – a talking point this year after the cinematic success of Black Panther.
“One of the reasons I was so keen on the opportunity to do Luke Cage was the fact that it was the opportunity to do a Marvel show that was inclusively black, culturally and musically,” Coker added. “The fact that it dropped everywhere [on Netflix], I think it set the stage for a lot of things.”
This second season not only builds on the success of the first, but also on Black Panther.
Coker served as executive producer and showrunner and also wrote the first two episodes of season 1. He authored the book Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G.
He began his writing career in journalism and was a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times and contributed to, among others, VIBE, Rolling Stone and Essence.
“For me, to have a character like Luke Cage dealing with so many social issues in the show, you realise that you have the opportunity to make an impact but at the same time, you never loose sight of the fact that it is a TV show and that the drama has to be there,” Coker said.
“So, I definitely think about the responsibility of putting out a character like Luke, but at the same time we ultimately are trying to make a show that resonates on an entertaining level.
“When I say the show is inclusively black, we don’t water down the culture at all, but at the same time it’s done in such a way that even if you’re not from a hip-hop culture or African-American culture, there’s a window into the show,” he added.