Luke Cage (TV series)

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Luke Cage
File:Luke Cage Netflix.png
Genre <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Based on Luke Cage
by Archie Goodwin
John Romita Sr.
Developed by Cheo Hodari Coker
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Composer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Production location(s) New York City
Cinematography Manuel Billeter
Production company(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Distributor Netflix
Release
Original network Netflix
Picture format 4K (Ultra HD)
Chronology
Preceded by Marvel's Jessica Jones
Followed by Marvel's Iron Fist
Related shows Marvel Cinematic Universe television series

Marvel's Luke Cage, or simply Luke Cage, is an upcoming American web television series developed for Netflix by Cheo Hodari Coker, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the third in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Coker serving as showrunner.

Mike Colter stars as Luke Cage, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime. Mahershala Ali, Alfre Woodard, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Frank Whaley, and Sônia Braga also star. Development of the series began in late 2013. In December 2014, Colter was cast as Cage, to appear first in a recurring role in Marvel's Jessica Jones, with Coker hired as the showrunner in March 2015. Filming began in New York City in September 2015 and concluded in March 2016.

All episodes are set to premiere on September 30, 2016.

Premise

When a sabotaged experiment gives him super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive attempting to rebuild his life in Harlem and must soon confront his past and fight a battle for the heart of his city.[2]

Cast and characters

Main

A former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime.[3][4][5] Colter read the comics and was familiar with the "very detailed, gritty" stories about Luke Cage,[6] but was reluctant to sign on due to some of the comics' depiction of the character, saying "when I saw the tiara, all the 1970s blacksploitation stuff, I was like, 'oh my God...' But they assured me, 'that's not what we're doing, we're doing a modern day version.'"[7] Colter ultimately signed on for Marvel's Jessica Jones, with the contingent of appearing in a solo series, without reading any scripts.[8] On playing the character as well as factoring in race, Colter said, "The approach with the character for me is more about the human qualities and the things that make Luke Cage tick...the writers have to then decide to bring in the race of the character, if there’s an angle there. But I don’t look at it as something I have to prep differently for...it's more of an aside".[6] Additionally, he put on 30 pounds (14 kg) of muscle for the role.[9]
Describing Cage, Colter said, "He's a neighborhood hero, very much linked to New York and Jessica Jones. It's all part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Luke Cage is a darker, grittier, more tangible character than Iron Man or Thor. He likes to keep things close to his chest, operate on the hush-hush. He has these abilities but he’s not sure how and when to use them. He's a very nuanced character.[5] Later elaborating, Colter said, "He's a renaissance man, he's trying to better himself and there's something to be said about someone who's always trying to make themselves better, trying to change."[10] Colter noted that the character's catch phrase 'Sweet Christmas' would be used in the series, saying "I was afraid of that phrase, but it actually fits so well, I don't know why, I don't know why it fits so well into Luke's mouth."[7]
A local politician and Stokes' cousin looking to bring change to Harlem, whose life is "thrown into turmoil" by the actions of Cage and Stokes.[2] The character was originally referred to as "Minetta".[13]
A Harlem police detective with a strong sense of justice, who is determined to learn about Cage and is the partner of Rafael Scarfe.[14][15] The character was originally referred to as "Missy".[14]
  • Theo Rossi as Shades: A relentless, menacing, smooth and manipulative, street smart criminal, with ties to Cage's past.[15][16] The character was originally referred to as "Sonny".[16]
  • Frank Whaley as Rafael Scarfe: A hard-nosed police detective and partner of Misty Knight.[15][17]
  • Sônia Braga as Soledad Temple: Claire Temple's mother.[18]

Guest

A nurse in Hell's Kitchen, whose friendship with Cage will have an impact on both of their lives. Dawson reprises her role from the previous Marvel Netflix series.[15][16] "Because she plays a nurse that basically seems to be in the right place at the right time, and she's very good at helping out superheroes who are in need, and I think you will see some of that in Luke Cage," said Colter. "Ultimately I think she's going to be a very good companion for Luke. I think she's someone that Luke needs in his life at this time."[19]

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 TBA Paul McGuigan[24] Cheo Hodari Coker[25] September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30)[26]
2 TBA Paul McGuigan[24] Cheo Hodari Coker[25] September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30)[26]

Production

Development

In May 2013, Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to Luke Cage from Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia Pictures,[27] after a feature film had been in development at Columbia since 2003,[28] to no avail. By October 2013, Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries, totaling 60 episodes, to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest.[29] A few weeks later, Marvel and Disney announced that they would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders.[1] In late March 2015, Netflix and Marvel Television announced Cheo Hodari Coker as the show's executive producer and showrunner, and revealed the title to be Marvel's Luke Cage.[25]

In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" in terms of determining if additional seasons would be appropriate.[30] In July 2015, Sarandos said some of the Defenders series would "selectively have multiple seasons as they come out of the gate."[31]

Writing

Jeph Loeb, executive producer and head of Marvel Television, described the series as "a fugitive story",[32] while Mike Colter described it as having "soul" and "intensity", compared to the "dark action" of Marvel's Daredevil and the "noir feel" of Jessica Jones.[10] Coker described Luke Cage as "a powerful fusion of dark drama, hip-hop, and classic superhero action" while being "The Wire of Marvel television, because we really deal with a lot of different issues."[33] The series picks up "a few months" after Jessica Jones and is set in Harlem rather than the Hell's Kitchen of the previous two series, which Colter described as "a completely different world". Colter also stated that Cage is "trying to make ends meet....he’s tending bar[s], he’s bouncing around. And for good reason, he’s a fugitive, he has some skeletons in his closet. He’s trying to basically stay off the radar. The people he hangs around with, though, are in need. Ultimately, he’d rather be alone, but...you can’t do that when you’re a superhero. You have these gifts, now use them."[34]

Talking about the series in relation to Jessica Jones, Colter stated, "We pride ourselves in all being unique shows, and Luke Cage is definitely not a sequel to Jessica Jones or a spinoff, because it was already originally was supposed to be a show, and it so happens that you can't tell her story without telling Luke Cage's story. The show that we're filming now, Marvel's Luke Cage as opposed to Marvel's Jessica Jones, is completely different. He goes off to uptown and he does his own thing...[but] the time lapse is not that long, and so it's not like Jessica Jones never happened." Colter added that in Jessica Jones he enjoyed not being "front and center" while Luke Cage "wasn’t trying to be a superhero", but in Luke Cage, the character would be "growing into that" role.[35][36]

On how the series develops the character, Colter said, "when I look at the scripts, I’m really pleased with it because it’s a slow-burn; there’s nothing happening really fast that gets ahead of itself. I’m really with where [the writers are] taking it and how they’re developing the characters, because it’s really cool and it’s geared towards an adult audience, which is something that will be different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe you’ve seen before on the big screen. We have a more gritty, focused story on our heroes and characters that live in New York City... and I think that’s the thing about the [Netflix] series that will be different."[6] Loeb said the series was about Luke Cage's "story and where he came from and, most importantly, where he’s going" after "catching him not quite in the middle, but in the early part of the middle" of his story on Jessica Jones.[37] On this, Colter noted that like the previous Marvel Netflix series, Luke Cage uses flashbacks, though "in a different way [than the other series] to tell a different part of the story."[10]

When asked whether the series would feel as "adult" as Jessica Jones, Colter replied, "if you think Jessica is adult then we’re still keeping up with that pace....we’ll continue along those lines of PG-16+".[38] On whether Luke Cage would address current race issues, including Black Lives Matter, given the character's past (a wrongfully imprisoned black man), Colter said, "this is not necessarily the platform to hit it head on" but "the things that he's going through will ring true for a lot of people in law enforcement...and people who are on the street will also relate to this character."[10]

Casting

By November 2014, Lance Gross, Colter, and Cleo Anthony were in contention for the role of Luke Cage, which was envisioned as a recurring role on Jessica Jones before headlining Luke Cage.[39] Colter was confirmed in the role the next month.[3] In August 2015, Alfre Woodard, who portrays Miriam Sharpe in the MCU film Captain America: Civil War,[40] was in talks to join the cast,[13] and the following month she was confirmed as a series regular as Mariah Dillard.[2] Also announced as cast in September was Theo Rossi as Shades,[16][15] Simone Missick as Misty Knight,[14][15] Mahershala Ali as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes,[11] and Frank Whaley as Rafael Scarfe.[17][15] In November, Sonia Braga was added to the cast as Soledad Temple, the mother of Claire Temple,[18] with Rosario Dawson reprising the latter role from Daredevil.[15][16]

Design

Stephanie Maslansky, the costume designer for Daredevil and Jessica Jones, serves as costume designer for Luke Cage as well. Luke Cage has his own wardrobe evolution throughout the series, as Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones did, after his initial look of T-shirts, jeans, leather jackets or an army jacket was introduced in Jessica Jones.[41]

Filming

Marvel announced in February 2014 that the series would be filmed in New York City,[42] with Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stating in April that the show would be filming in areas of Brooklyn and Long Island City that still look like the old Hell’s Kitchen, in addition to sound stage work.[43] In July 2015, Loeb stated that the series was prepping to begin filming,[44] and by September 2015, production had begun with the working title Tiara.[45][46] Filming concluded in March 2016.[22] Manuel Billeter served as director of photography for the series, after doing the same for Jessica Jones.[47]

Music

In April 2016, Coker revealed that Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad were composing for the series, calling the music "a '90s hip-hop vibe" with "a lot of different musical appearances".[33] Younge and Muhammad utilized a full orchestra for the score, which was conducted by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.[48] Colter stated that the "musicality" of the series would differentiate it from past Marvel Netflix series, saying "It defines itself through sound that you can feel when you're watching the scenes, whether it's something that's actually a song that they're playing or actually just the pulse of the music that they choose thematically." He added that the audience would hear familiar songs in the series which, along with the "unique" original score, would create an "urban" and "soulful" feel throughout. He added: "it will be a stark contrast to the music you heard for the first two prior series. We are in Harlem, so you want to feel like you are around that kind of culture. Harlem has a long, rich culture of music and we want to pay homage to that. We want to make sure that the artists that we use and the artists that we are emulating, the sound that we are using bring you into the feel that you're uptown and not necessarily in midtown."[10]

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

Luke Cage is the third of the ordered Netflix series after Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and will be followed by Marvel's Iron Fist, before leading into the miniseries, Marvel's The Defenders.[49][50] In November 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that if the characters prove popular on Netflix, “It’s quite possible that they could become feature films,"[51] which was echoed by Sarandos in July 2015.[31] In August 2014, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, stated that after the "series stuff with Netflix", Marvel has "a bigger plan to branch out".[52] In March 2015, Loeb spoke on the ability for the series to crossover with the MCU films and the ABC television series, saying, "It all exists in the same universe. As it is now, in the same way that our films started out as self-contained and then by the time we got to The Avengers, it became more practical for Captain America to do a little crossover into Thor 2 and for Bruce Banner to appear at the end of Iron Man 3. We have to earn that. The audience needs to understand who all of these characters are and what the world is before you then start co-mingling in terms of where it's going."[53]

Release

Luke Cage is scheduled to be released on September 30, 2016,[26] on the streaming service Netflix, in all territories where it is available,[25] in Ultra HD 4K.[54] The 13 hour-long episodes will be released simultaneously, as opposed to a serialized format, to encourage binge-watching, a format which has been successful for other Netflix series.[42][43] In January 2015, Sarandos said Netflix planned to release a Marvel series approximately a year apart from each other after Daredevil's April 2015 release.[55]

Marketing

Disney Consumer Products created a small line of products to cater to a more adult audience, given the show’s edgier tone. Paul Gitter, senior VP of Marvel Licensing for Disney Consumer Products explained that the focus would be more on teens and adults than very young people, with products at outlets like Hot Topic. Additionally, a Marvel Knights merchandise program was created to support the series, which creates new opportunities for individual product lines and collector focused products. Licensing partners wanted to pair up with Marvel, despite this not being a film project, given its previous successes.[56]

On March 18, 2016, the first footage of the series debuted exclusively on Netflix. The trailer appeared at the end of the second season of Daredevil, autoplaying after viewers finished the final episode.[57]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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