In the ’70s, Marvel’s Luke Cage was one of comics’ first blaxploitation characters to headline his own comic book series. It was to put it politely, not exactly a multidimensional portrayal for the title character. Later comic creators re-envisioned Cage as a more complex individual who was eventually embraced by a new generation of fans after his stint in the New Avengers. Mike Colter introduced Cage into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe last year in the Jessica Jones series, but later this month, he’ll be flying solo in the new Luke Cage series on Netflix.
The Luke Cage live action series is going to do something that the comics never did: it’s reworking all of Cage’s major villains into modern characters as well. That means that Cottonmouth, Black Mariah, and Shades won’t be embarrassing stereotypes. In fact, Cottonmouth’s characterization actually brings him closer in tone to Daredevil‘s use of the Kingpin.
But the focus of the show is still on Cage. In a new video released by Netflix, Colter and other cast members from the series explain how this version of Cage differs from his comic book counterpart while setting up his new status quo and his eventual showdown with Cottonmouth for the soul of Harlem.
Related: New ‘Luke Cage’ Clip Features Cottonmouth in His Kingdom
At Comic-Con, we spoke with several cast members from this show, including Colter and Theo Rossi, Simone Missick & Frank Whaley, and Mahershala Ali, in addition to our chat with showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and executive producer Jeph Loeb. If you want more background on what to expect in the series, that’s where you can find it.
All thirteen episodes of Luke Cage will premiere on Friday, September 30 on Netflix.
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