Netflix and Marvel have unveiled the first clip from the highly anticipated new series Luke Cage. The show is the third collaboration between Marvel and Netflix, following in the footsteps of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and serving as a precursor to 2017’s Iron Fist, which then will lead to the Avengers-style team-up miniseries The Defenders that brings all of these characters together in one show.
In this brief clip, we see Mike Colter’s Luke Cage waltz into a boxing gym and proceed to kick ass and take names. But the clip also hints towards one major downside of being bulletproof: constantly having to buy new clothes. One imagines Cage’s shopping budget is quite hefty as it’s not like he can just walk around with bullet holes in all of his shirts.
The series picks up after the events of Jessica Jones, where we first saw Cage striking up a brief relationship with Krysten Ritter’s similarly strong superhero. In his own series, Cage returns home to Harlem, where he must confront his past and battle House of Cards alum Mahershala Ali’s villainous Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. Through flashbacks we’ll learn Cage’s origin story, but showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker has not been shy about the fact that the series will lean heavily into Luke Cage’s blackness.
Indeed, while fans seem to get a bit huffy when film iterations of comics characters differ from their canon appearance, with Luke Cage the character’s race is actually a fundamental part of who he is (unlike, say, Spider-Man's Mary Jane). Thus, Coker here is offering up not just another street-level superhero story, but one from a decidedly African-American point of view just as Jessica Jones was told from a female’s perspective. This is a smart move on Marvel’s part as it ensures that its Netflix shows aren’t simply repeating each other—they’ll each have a very strong (and different) point of view.
Check out the first Luke Cage clip below. The series also stars Alfre Woodard, Simone Missick, Theo Rassi, Frank Whaley, and Rosario Dawson. All episodes of Marvel’s Luke Cage debut on Netflix on September 30th.
