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In 1972 , Marvel answered a tangible excitement for Blaxploitation action movies withLuke Cage , Hero for Hire , a title about a Harlem crime fighter with impenetrable hide and superhuman strength . In 2016 , Marvel and Netflix do the sensory overload of a hundred whirlpool comic book franchises withLuke Cage , a nerveless - as - ice procedural that ’s your new replacing forLaw & Order : SVUreruns .
OK , OK , nothing can replace your preciousSVUreruns , but after taking an early peek at the first one-half of the 13 - episode season , I can sayLuke Cagewill be a young entry in the comfortableness - regard canon . Before it drops on September 30th and blows up the internet , here ’s what you require to know .
Luke Cage|Netflix
The show’s inspired by stuff you love
Luke Cagehas the step ofHomicide : Life on the Streetsand the soul of a Gang Starr playlist . In interview , Maker Cheo Hodari Coker ( Southland , Ray Donovan ) citesThe Wireand the energetic Brazilian movieCity of Godas inspiration for the series . Luke Cageis less stringent than either of those , though the serial successfully revive the Blaxploitation vibe without condescendingness or pastiche . To be blunt : it’sfun .
Luke Cage is a legit superhero
The Marvel - Netflix squad - up has thus far birthed two shows about antihero : Daredevil , a brilliant , blind , clown lawyer by day and a excruciate , impulsive hero - in - grooming by night , andJessica Jones , a hard - booze individual centre restrained by her past tense and abused by her present tense . Luke Cage ( the soul ) is a different slip : he ’s a Superman without the cape , a Batman without the gadgets or theangry CrossFit face .
There are instant in the premiere where Cage refuses the call , but he quickly presume the position of Harlem ivory - breaker , stand up to money - grub gangster to protect his friends , his family , and his neck of the woods . Virtue is his swell weakness ; if he ’s not faking injury to mask his ability , he ’s scrambling at a moral carrefour , wavering over whether to intervene . redeem the daylight in one part of town could set off the wrong scoundrel , and mayhap a bazooka , in another .
Actor Mike Colter might be an actual superhero, too
Paul McGuigan ofSherlockfame shot the early episode ofLuke Cage , and his expressive style lives to serve Mike Colter ( The Good Wife ) , the definition of gentle giant . Whenever Colter steps into frame , he towers over the tv camera . His raw physique – gravely , the dude isbig– makes small - scale fight sequences all the more cruel . coulter unlock John Milton Cage Jr. by humanizing the character , vividly tot complexness via flashback and soft - speak shop class talk . Race plays a immense theatrical role in the show ’s moral force . Villains , dim and white , prey on the vulnerabilities of the modern black community of interests . Cage deals with squads of machine - shooter - toting subordinate and the fading identities of Harlem ’s kids . Colter ’s Isidor Feinstein Stone - face mien challenges both at maximal world power .
Luke Cage barely takes place in the Marvel universe
Cage played an important role in last fall’sJessica Jones , andwill come along inThe Defenders , the Avengers - like supergroup that ’s the subject of an coming Netflix series . But six episodes intoLuke Cage , only trace ingredient of the Marvel " Cinematic Universe " can be come up ( though you may want to read Rosario Dawson’sDaredevilwiki page ) . By relocate from Hell ’s Kitchen to Harlem , Luke Cage give in out of any overarching narrative and viewers avoid orgy - look on homework ( at least , so far ) .
The show has swagger
Luke Cageis a solid show with an incredible soundtrack . Like Netflix’sunderratedThe Get Down , the serial siphons energy from every geological era of hip - record hop . A smattering of blues riffs and Wu - Tang tracks stake Cage ’s motility . Tying it together are an original score from Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest and a handful of musical numeral , organically arrange at a Harlem club that double over as the hideout of the main risky guy , " Cottonmouth " Stokes ( Mahershala Ali , fromHouse of Cardsand theHunger Gamesmovies ) .
Ali even lends his own musical accomplishment to the show ; when he ’s not beating misbehaving henchmen into blinking pulps , he can be observe pontificate at a piano . He ’s the diabolic embodiment of Biggie ’s crown portrayal ( which he hangs in his office ! ) and , thanks to a bold musical ambience , one of the right idiot box villains in forever .
But it’s not an action series likeDaredevil
While the firstLuke Cageepisodes dip an unbreakable toe into Shaolin warlike humanistic discipline ( true to the Wu - Tang way ) , there is n’t a mano - a - mano combat to match the Marvel predecessors . Cage can break through rampart or direct his enemy through them , but showdowns are limited . The spirt of spectacle may leave action junkies wanting more .
The series never loses its cool
Like a rambling comic book electric discharge , forced to start and restart every egress , Netflix ’s Marvel series could suffer to concentrate their required 13 installment into inadequate runs . WithoutJessica Jones ' pressing societal issues orDaredevil ’s claptrap , Luke Cagecan plod along ( you ’ll scream " another conversation about tax money ? ? " at least twice ) . But Colter hold on me hooked . He is our Clint Eastwood , our Richard Roundtree , our Steve McQueen , our Pam Grier , our Arnold Schwarzenegger ( with actual emotions ) , a storey - maneuver badass for the Netflix contemporaries . He ’s stiff enough to deplume a car door off an SUV , and he ’s strong enough to take yet another superhero show .
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Netflix
Netflix
