Just finished it, although I was delayed for a bit since Netflix had some kind of a temporary crash this afternoon, apparently. (Maybe too many people were watching Luke Cage?) I was very impressed. It was well-done, well-made, and intriguing. It's perhaps the blackest TV show I've ever seen, and I mean that in a good way -- a really rich exploration of Harlem and African-American culture, a celebration of the music and the art and the literature and the history and the hopes and dreams and bitterness and anger of a community, and it's great to hear those voices heard and that culture and beauty and sophistication communicated at a time when racism is so much on the upswing in America and negative attitudes toward that community are on the rise. I think this was a really rich and meaningful statement, and it made for fascinating viewing. It's similar to the experience I recently had reading the collected Ms. Marvel comics introducing Kamala Khan, with a similarly three-dimensional, rich, entertaining insider's portrayal of a Muslim-American immigrant community centering on an extremely likeable and heroic lead character. The acting was excellent. Mike Colter is as charismatic and smooth as he was in Jessica Jones, and more than capable of carrying a lead role. Although it was more of a co-lead role. I loved it that, despite the title, this was as much Misty Knight's story as Luke Cage's story, and Simone Missick was pretty awesome in the role. Theo Rossi did a good job making Shades at once malicious and oddly sympathetic. Woodard and Ali did their usual strong work, though Erik LaRay Harvey's Diamondback was a bit over-the-top. And Rosario Dawson got her biggest role yet, which makes sense since Claire Temple was originally a Luke Cage supporting character. The music was pretty interesting. I'm not fond of the sound of rap/hip-hop music, and some of the performing bands didn't do much for me, but I loved the older influences in the incidental music, the jazz and '70s funk sounds. (In the main title music, I particularly love the very '70s-style strings that come in as the writer credit is shown.) The way music was worked into the story was pretty effective as well. There's an extended guest appearance by rapper Method Man in a late episode that's kind of contrived, but it ends up being an interesting part of the narrative of the cultural reaction to Luke Cage and his relationship with the community. Spoiler: various, up through ending They really faked us out with Misty's arm. I was sure she was going to need to get it amputated. Instead, it was implausibly back to normal in what seemed like a day or two of story time. I was also expecting her to quit the force and become a PI by the end, although it looks like her relationship with the NYPD is not in a great place at the moment. Bobby found the folder of evidence to clear Carl Lucas, so that seems like a pretty easy solution to the cliffhanger. I would've expected a little more ambiguity there. I gather that in the comics, the proof of Lucas's innocence died with Reva. That self-defense flier that Claire read in the closing montage there? The instructor was Colleen Wing. Now we know how Claire's going to end up in Iron Fist. I just hope that show can handle Asian culture as well as this show handled African-American culture, though so far the Netflix shows' portrayal of Asians has been pretty badly stereotyped. With all the MCU continuity nods, I'm disappointed that nobody mentioned the last time two superstrong beings battled in Harlem, in The Incredible Hulk. Did anyone else find it really confusing when Mariah tried to stir up community outrage at police brutality while simultaneously trying to convince the community that the police should be armed even more heavily? I think the cognitive dissonance there was intentional, to show her hypocrisy, but I wouldn't have thought the crowd would respond so well to it.
^ I wonder if that was intended as a fake out or they changed their mind and wrote it out. Spoiler: And about that... There's a scene where she really leans on her arms getting up from a table that seemed funny given all that about the arm.
Given how they approach these seasons as continuous wholes, I'd think that they'd have the whole season scripted before they started shooting. So if they'd written it out, they probably would've dropped the whole thing.
Decided to give the first episode a try, and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it a lot. Luke was really good (I thought he was one of the few decent characters in Jessica Jones, but he didn't impress me like he did in this episode), the villain was interesting (he's no Kingpin or Purple man, but still pretty good so far) and the story was pretty solid. So far they're doing the "reluctant hero" plot with Luke a lot better then it was done on Jessica Jones. I also like Luke's supporting cast so far (again, better then Jessica Jones' and better then Karen and Foggy in Daredevil Season 2). I'll definitely keep watching, for now at least. Its started off so much better then Jessica Jones or Daredevil season 2 did that I'm actually shocked at how much I liked the first episode.
Finally finished Luke Cage last night. It was enjoyable, but man that second half of the season left a lot to be desired. Marvel doesn't do villains very well, and Diamondback had me rolling my eyes more than I wanted to. We leave a very interesting character in Cottonmouth for a very one deminsional stupid character in Diamondback and the gang stuff just was not all that interesting. My favorite aspect of the series was Luke and Claire, as I thought Colter and Dawson had great chemistry. The stuff dealing with Luke's past and when he went to see the Doctor to take out the bullets was probably the highlight of the series for me. I still love Jessica Jones better and Daredevil Season 1 was great too, but Luke Cage was a worthy addition to the Netflix Marvel line up.
Just saw the ep in question; the reference is to Obama singing Al Green, which took place in his second term. It makes zero sense in the broader context of the MCU, and just goes to show how few sh*ts the producers give about tying all the aspects of the 'verse together. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily, but that's how it is.
Second season confirmed. http://io9.gizmodo.com/netflix-conf...utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
This was all but guaranteed. I feel Netflix is moving to a 3 Marvel show a year release. They essentially have to in order to maintain prolonged interest. A 2yr wait on Luke Cage seems at the extreme end. Other shows have done it, but they've had a much more built up fanbase for multiple seasons. (Sopranos) Iron Fist '17 Defenders '17 Jessica Jones S2 '17 Daredevil S3 '18 Punisher '18 Luke Cage S2 '18
(Emphasis added) Actually, I think Punisher is next year: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-...eries-adds-to-cast-confirms-2017-release-date