Marvel's Luke Cage: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From Season 1

7. It Handles The Origin Story Well

I was a little concerned when the series got to the origin story component, as early reviews had pegged it as weakpoint and it's something that we've seen done so many times (not for Cage, but just superheroes in general) that it can feel tired.

Luke Cage's origin doesn't reinvent the wheel, so if you're really sick of origin stories there won't be much here, but it does provide an interesting insight into Carl Lucas, the man he was before getting superpowers.

Lucas is a strong, thoughtful, but quiet man who attests to his innocence, but slowly gets beaten down by the system and is forced to fight. It gives an insight into life in prison at the same time as showing the character's origins, and fleshes out his backstory with Reva as we get to see their first meeting, and the relationship slowly develop. It also does a good job of tying itself to the present day, not just with Cage but thanks to the presence of Shades in the same prison.

The experiment-gone-wrong isn't anything really new, but works just fine, and gives us the chance to see Cage in his yellow Power Man costume, which provides a great moment of levity to go with it.