Did Luke Cage make his mark on the over-saturated genre of superheroes? Keep reading and find out if Luke Cage made the cut.
“Sweet Christmas” is one of the catchphrases that Luke Cage (Mike Colter) says whenever he is in a pinch or something extraordinary is happening. The hero of Harlem (New York) does not put up with any misdoings in his parts. With crime and racial division being on every street corner, Luke puts it on himself to be the hero of Harlem even if he doesn’t want to.
After getting wrongly accused of possession of heroin, Carl Lucas is sent to jail. The jail he went through is called the raft, which is home to criminals who commit the worst kind of deeds. After being in prison for a while, he ended up getting into an underground fight club hosted by a dirty cop. After exposing the fight club to the warden, the cop sent two prisoners to kill him. On the brink of death, the scientist of the prison did some experiments on him to heal his wounds. The officer running the fight club needed Carl dead, so he tampered with the experiments which caused an explosion. In the explosion, Carl became healed and came out with super strength with unbreakable skin. After breaking out of prison and being on the run, he changed his name to start over. He now fights crime as the bulletproof man from Harlem under the persona as Luke Cage.
Luke Cage is a fugitive turned hero trying to defend his hometown, from mobsters like Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali). He wants to make Harlem a better place even if he has to kill some people in the process. His cousin, Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard), is a corrupt politician who aids Cottonmouth since she thinks the only way to get results is to get her hands dirty. She hires Shades (Theo Rossi) to help out Cottonmouth and to also be her protector whenever trouble arises. Luke Cage has an ally on the police force, named Misty Knight (Simone Missick). She tries to take down Luke since he was a criminal before but realizes that he is doing right to the city.
If you’re looking for crazy martial arts fighting, Luke Cage is not the show for you. He is a brawler who is more set on overpowering someone than outmaneuvering them. Even though the villain Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir) does have some crazy moves in season two, the overall fighting on the show is pretty bland. Luckily, this is a character-driven show with each character having their own strong points. With a standout performance from Ali, who played Cottonmouth, he showed the viewers why he runs Harlem. The main highlight from the show is the music, with Harlem being home to jazz and hip-hop. Luke Cage brought out the feel of Harlem with its soundtrack. Harlem is a place of culture and many different races with most characters being of the minority. This sends a good message of those of color, if the “racial politics don’t get under your skin” says Mike Hale from the New York Times.
Luke Cage being bulletproof has many meanings racially and emotionally. Due to his skin color and the racial injustice of white cops nowadays, Luke Cage is a strong example of what it would be like if people of color could be bulletproof and stand up for themselves. Also, just because Luke Cage is bulletproof and physically unbreakable, he can still be hurt from the inside. Nobody can get through life without some type of emotional support, even if your bulletproof the bullets can still reach you. With these reasons in mind, Luke Cage did make his mark. This show gives a more grounded and realistic take on the superhero genre.
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