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

This darker, more adult side of the MCU does a lot of things better than its big-screen counterparts, but one of the most notable is in how it crafts villains that are equal parts menacing, interesting, and complex. With characters like Kingpin and Kilgrave, you understand their motivations, the series even comes close to making you feel sorry for them, but they also don't lose sight of how much of a threat they pose. The villain of Luke Cage is Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes, who has incredibly lofty standards to live up to. Can he manage it?

411 Mania discusses how great he is, making comparisons to Fisk, and that while he's a monster, actor Mahershala Ali (House of Cards) gives him "a great sense of empathy and vulnerability."

"Colter isn’t the best thing about the series – no, that role belongs to Mahersala Ali’s riveting portrayal of the fascinatingly complex character Cornwell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes. Ali is effortlessly cool and charismatic as the also chillingly intimidating owner of the Harlem’s Paradise nightclub." - Nerd Repository

"Ali’s Stokes is easily [Fisk and Kilgrave's] equal, if not even more richly defined, [an] achievement [that] is a both a credit to what’s on the script page and just what sort of meditative ferocity Ali is able to conjure behind this figure, who is at once terrifying and incredibly sympathetic. This is a character so vivid that, while being the clear antagonist of the series’ machinations, one can’t help but be amazed at the moral gray tones that he’s swathed in." - Comics Beat.