Four Key Things We've Learned About 'Luke Cage' At SDCC!

Yesterday saw Marvel's Luke Cage panel, with a whole host of reveals for Marvel Netflix - including the revelation that there will be a Daredevil Season 3! For now, though, I want to hone in on Marvel's next Netflix series, Luke Cage, and explore just what we've learned...

1. We Got a New Teaser- and It's a Pretty Cool Homage to Daredevil's Hallway Scene!

The headline news here is, of course, the new teaser- and isn't it gorgeous? For me, I think of that battle scene as a nice homage to the famous Hallway Scene in Daredevil Season 1 - and it works as a 'compare and contrast'. Where Daredevil works by stealth, sensing enemies and engaging them in dangerous combat, Luke Cage storms forwards. I mean, he leaves a car door wrapped around one guy!

Daredevil ducks and dodges. Luke Cage advances. Daredevil fears bullets. Bullets bounce off Luke Cage's skin. That clip above shows a fascinatingly different combat style, one that depends on raw strength rather than finesse and skill, but one that looks set to be just as cool.

2. Harlem is a Character in its Own Right

As we've already seen in Daredevil and Jessica Jones, a superhero is only as good as the world they're based in. Luke Cage is based in Harlem, and Marvel has gone to some serious effort to create an iconic location in its own right.

In both the panel and the above interview with Marvel Live, the cast openly discussed how Harlem deserves a number on the call sheet as much as anyone else. The script has been written in part to create Luke Cage's world, to transport you into this superhero version of Harlem, and that's only been enhanced by the musical choices. Giving a sense of how important music is as an influence, every episode of Luke Cage is named after a different Gang Starr song.

3. Misty Knight Sounds Intriguing!

Simone Missick is excited to be playing Misty Knight, a character who's not "the wife or the girlfriend", just her own person. In spite of that, the panel mentioned the word 'romance' when describing the drama of Luke Cage, and showed a clip in which things were described as getting pretty hot between Luke and Misty.

There's a sense in which Misty is pretty counter-cultural. A hard-nosed, focused detective, Misty has a strong sense of right and wrong. In a time when society is losing faith in the system, she's standing on her soap-box declaring right and wrong. That'll make her an intriguing contrast with Mike Colter's Luke Cage, whose experience in prison is a pretty graphic illustration of how the system has failed.

4. 'Luke Cage' Will Be an Origin Story- Of Sorts

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Although we met Mike Colter's Luke Cage in Jessica Jones, this show is still referenced as being an "origin story". For Luke, this is the story of how he becomes a superhero - how he moves from the character of Jessica Jones, stood firmly in the shadows, and faces the world's challenges head-on. Writer Cheo Coker put it simplest:

"How does a bulletproof man change the ecology of a neighborhood and the community?"

Although it's safe to assume most viewers have watched Jessica Jones, Luke Cage stands alone and works effectively - even if you don't know Luke Cage from the comics.

Due out on September 30th, Luke Cage is the next part of Marvel's developing Netflix universe! It's only one of the great shows in the works - check out the full list here - but it looks to add a whole new dimension to the MCU. These teasers have definitely got me excited!

Are you looking forward to Luke Cage?