Meet the latest Marvel superhero to hit Netflix: Luke Cage, a mysterious and indestructible avenger raising hell up in Harlem, the bulletproof man who twists thugs guns into pretzels. As one of his enemies says, hes half Houdini, half Ali. And the man has got a lot of enemies, because hes had it up to here with the unrighteous fools trying to run this neighborhood. So he walks the streets in broad daylight, looking for the next ruckus to bring. Netflixs excellent Luke Cage is its latest addition to the Marvel universe, building on the success of Daredevil and Jessica Jones with an even more charismatic hero. In one showdown scene, somebody asks him, Dont you need a gun? Our hero scoffs at that: I am the gun. And a few knocked-out knuckleheads later, Luke walks away triumphant.
'Luke Cage': Inside Marvel's Hip-Hop Ballad of a Bulletproof Black ManFall TV Preview: Hip-Hop, Harlem Superheroes and 'The Walking Dead'The Beatles' 'Abbey Road': 5 Great Country, Americana CoversMarty Stuart on Making Ken Burns' 'Country Music'
We got to see Luke Cage briefly in last years Jessica Jones, though we didnt see nearly as much of him as Miss Jones did. Mike Colter not only has the muscle to bring this guy to life, hes got the stoic sense of grief, a man in a hoodie who feels sorry for the clowns who keep thinking they can finish him off by popping a cap in him. Its a bold step forward for the suddenly booming world of superhero TV, partly because 2016 is a year when theres even more resonance in the fantasy of an American black man who cant be gunned down. Hes a black life that not only matters but cant be snuffed out by bullets, so he reluctantly takes on the responsibility that goes with his superpower defending the other black lives he sees at risk.
When we first see Cage, hes trying his best not to be Power Man but the invisible man, an ex-con with a tragic past, sweeping up at Pops Barber Shop and grieving over the death of his wife. As he says, What if my ambition is to sweep hair, wash the dishes and be left the hell alone? He wants to keep both his superpowers and his mournful memories secret, but as somebody here says, Aint no secrets uptown. So he cant stay out of the good-vs.-evil game. As Frankie Faisons wise old barber-shop sage says, You know how the wind feels fluffy, like you could stuff it into a pillow case right before a big thunderstorm? Harlems the same. Trouble smells a certain way. You can touch it.
The character originated in 1972 as Marvels attempt to create a blaxploitation star, in the wake of Shaft and Superfly, but this version is saturated in hip-hop ambience (every episode is named after a Gang Starr song). Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker is an old-school hip-hop journalist; he reviewed Biggies Ready to Die for Rolling Stone back in the day. Its full of clever allusions to the other Netflix Marvel adaptations especially Rosario Dawson, reprising her all-too-brief role as Claire Temple. Luke Cage has even more of The Wire in its DNA most notably Faison, who was so great as Commissioner Burrell and plays Lukes barber-shop Yoda. Mahershala Ali (House of Cards) is fantastic as the posh gangsta Cottonmouth Stokes who runs his criminal empire from a club he calls Harlems Paradise, with artists like Faith Evans and Charles Bradley performing on his stage, and a giant portrait of Biggie in his office. As he tells Luke, You want Harlem? Its expensive. Hes in cahoots with crooked politician Alfre Woodward but they find Luke is an enemy they cant put down with a few bullets. Luke has no cape, no costume, no secret hideout, and people who want to kill him always know where to find him. Its killing him that turns out to be tricky. His most exhilarating superpower isnt even that hes bulletproof. Its that hes a black man who never needs to hide.
Like Jessica Jones, where Krysten Ritter brought so much resonance to a grim tale of sexual abuse, Luke Cage has personal and cultural pain mingled together. Theres one payoff scene so great it appears twice, though it works both times where a young blood holds a gun to Cages head. What we see on Colters face is grief, more than anything not just annoyance at yet another thug he has to slap down, but a profound sorrow at what a stupid waste all this gun culture is. Something in Colters face reminded me of the pain in Richard Pryors voice when he plays the preacher who prays, How lonnnng will this bullshit go onnnn?
The real star of the show might be Harlem itself; just like Luke, the camera is in love with this neighborhood, as representing the greenest hopes of African-American culture. Unlike Daredevil or Jessica Jones, which had a late-night mood in a totally fictional Hells Kitchen, Luke Cage thrives on daylight, with a vivid sense of place. Even the bad guys love the hood: Cottonmouth gives a speech saluting jazzman Billy Strayhorn and R&B producer Teddy Riley in the same sentence. Theres an elegiac sense that Harlem could bloom again. Back in the day, people had respect, an old-timer laments. People carried groceries for old ladies. Your name meant something. Cage scoffs, Maybe thats why they call it back in the day. But thats the resonance of Luke Cage it shows you why these streets are worth fighting for, then gives you the street-fighting man for the job.