When Luke Cage debuts this fall, it will arrive at a time when racial tension in America seems to be boiling over.
That fact is not lost on the show’s executive producer and cast. During an interview at the EW lounge at San Diego Comic-Con, series creator Cheo Hodari Coker discussed the black superhero’s relevance as “somebody that the community can touch and go to.”
“There’s never been a time in history where having a bulletproof black man, in terms of just looking at how that affects a neighborhood, in terms of looking at, for example, how it not only changes law enforcement but also changes the criminal world, and really in a sense, it’s like Luke’s entrance into this world changes the ecology of the entire neighborhood,” Coker said.
Jeph Loeb, a producer on the show and Marvel Television executive vice president, echoed the sentiment. “Luke Cage, when he came on the scene in the early ’70s was for all intents and purposes the first black superhero,” Loeb said. “Given what’s going on present day, it just resonates.”
The new series, which stars Jessica Jones alum Mike Colter in the titular role, takes the superhero action to Harlem. “It’s a completely different world,” Colter said. “It has its own flavor, its own feel, the people are different, the culture is different, there’s a certain musicality to it, so I really think that just bringing it to Harlem changed it up a lot.”
See the full interview above. Marvel’s Luke Cage will be available to stream on Netflix beginning Sept. 30.
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