Marvel's Luke Cage Reviews: 10 Early Reactions You Need To Know

Cheo Coker said at Comic-Con that the world was ready for a bulletproof black man, and that's a theme that appears to be playing out throughout Luke Cage. This isn't just a superhero, but a black superhero, and everyone involved is aware of the social and political background this series is airing against, and that has a huge influence on the show.

Collider says: "It’s an intimate portrait of street life, detailing not only the inner workings of the crime syndicates, but also the beleaguered police, sleazy politicians, and the young people in the community who see guns and drugs as an easy way to make money." Deadline adds that it's "socially relevant."

"Both Cage and his main nemeses are cast as symbols of potentiality, opposite poles of what powerful black people can achieve in ignored or exploited communities ... The show’s writing self-consciously tethers Luke Cage to a legacy of black pulp heroism ... When Luke Cage debuted in the Marvel Comics of the 1970s, black people were shouting out that they were beautiful in defiance of an institutionalized system that worked to dehumanize them. This show does the same thing. Luke Cage feels like many different swatches of blackness all at once." - io9

At a time when the deaths of black people at the hands of police is causing rightful outrage, the Black Lives Matter movement is around, and someone with the views of Donald Trump is running for President, Luke Cage is going to be more than just a superhero.