Marvel's Luke Cage Season 2 Review: 4 Ups And 5 Downs

2. Bushmaster Is Another Strong Villain

Luke Cage Season 1 can best be summed up by its two villains: the series thrived with Cottonmouth and Luke butting heads, but fell off when they switched him out for Diamondback. It's overly simplistic to lay all the blame on that one change, but it's indicative of where things went wrong.

Season 2 doesn't try and outdo Cottonmouth, but nor is newcomer Bushmaster cut from the same cloth as Diamondback, despite possessing the same kind of powers as Luke Cage himself.

A Jamaican gangster operating out of Brooklyn but with his eyes on Harlem, the character is deeply connected to the themes of family and legacy that permeate the series, and portrayed with real charisma by Shakir, and yet with a veneer of vulnerability underneath. Most interestingly, though, is that he's not really an adversary for Luke Cage, but instead becomes locked into a battle for Harlem against Mariah, with Cage caught in the middle.

With this universe already so many seasons deep it's an interesting new wrinkle, and helps lead to some fascinating discussions over their actions, their past and legacies, and wrong, right, and the lines in between.