15 Ways The MCU Improved Marvel Mythology

While the Marvel Netflix shows may be defunct now that Disney+ has formally wedged a massive gap between the two brands, the shows themselves are indeed canon, much to Kevin Fiege's chagrin. Famously, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Punisher were all handled very well and received widespread critical acclaim while Iron Fist and The Defenders were bungled beyond belief and were universally panned.

However, most comic fans agree that the series that truly went above and beyond the call of duty was Luke Cage, mostly because the character has a somewhat tumultuous history in the comics. Debuting at the height of the blaxploitation genre, the original Luke Cage was about as stereotypically African-American as a caricature could get back in 1972. While he was used prominently for a few years, it was always a running gag about how much of parody he was of the blaxploitation archetype and his inability to move past that confining character turned Cage himself into a joke.

Fortunately, Brian Michael Bendis and Heroes for Hire helped to rehabilitate the character decades later, but the comic version of Cage has never fully shaken the stench of his origins. However, Mike Colter's version of the character that debuted in the Jessica Jones series felt wholly authentic, never pandering to a genre or trying to fit an archetypal mold. It was a massive update to the character that completely removed him from his unfortunate debut.