Even as 2016 turns Marvel’s focus back from Jessica Jones to Daredevil Season 2, we’re still looking for a bead on the next Defender to come our way, Luke Cage. We got a taste of his origins from Jessica, but now Mike Colter himself confirms flashbacks to come, as well as a unique musical presence to the series, both in artists contributing to the score, and the Harlem setting overall.
You’re warned of a few basic Jessica Jones spoilers from here on out, but Colter’s ultra-durable Luke Cage spoke little of his Marvel-ous past, only alluding to the experiment that granted him impenetrable skin. Speaking the LA Times, Colter confirmed what many had suspected, that the first season of Luke Cage would follow its predecessors in rolling out backstory over time:
There are flashbacks in “Jessica,” and there are flashbacks in “Daredevil” as well, so we should expect to see some flashbacks in “Luke Cage.” Every series has used their flashbacks in a different way to tell a different part of the story.
Perhaps moreso than flashbacks, fans are eager to catch up with Luke’s new life in Harlem post-Jessica Jones, the first Defenders series to strike out of Hell’s Kitchen. In particular, Colter alluded to the culture of music in Harlem influencing the series, potentially bringing in recognizable artists to contribute to the score:
“Luke Cage” is going to have soul, it’s going to have intensity, it’s going to have dark parts to it. I think what’s going to make it unique is also the musicality of it. There’s going to be a musical taste that you found a little bit in “Jessica.” 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. “Luke Cage” is going to define itself in that way, and it’s going to define itself in the locations that we’re doing. […]
Music is an ever-evolving thing because you have musical rights that you’re trying to get and with Netflix they really are very clear about what they want to do with the music. They’ve got some people who are names in the industry to write original scores for us and that’s something that’s going to be unique.
Luke has some songs that people know but I think also the whole feel of it will have, I guess this is an overused word, but urban. It will be urban, it will be soulful, and 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. That’s kind of one of the things that’s going to make it unique.
Thus far of Netflix’s Luke Cage, we know that Sons of Anarchy vet Theo Rossi will play “Shades” Alvarez, alongside Mahershala Ali’s Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, Alfre Woodard’s Mariah Dillard, Frank Whaley’s Detective Rafael Scarfe and Simone Missick’s Misty Knight. Marvel menace “Diamondback” has been rumored to appear, while Rosario Dawson has also been confirmed her reprise her go-between character of Claire Temple, who herself originated in Marvel comics as a love interest of Luke Cage. Cheo Hodari Coker will showrun the series.
We’ll still have Daredevil Season 2 in between (while casting begins on Iron Fist, without word of Jessica Jones Season 2), but when can we expect Luke Cage in 2016? Will the series feel much different than its predecessors?
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