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

1. It's Thematically Rich

Luke Cage Mariah Bushmaster
Netflix

The first season gave the world a bulletproof black man at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Season 2 is once again rich with real-world parallels and themes that feel both important and relevant, but are also compelling to watch.

Much of this series isn't just about being a black superhero, but delve even further into identity and background, with a rivalry brewing between the gangsters of Harlem and those from Jamaica.

It goes further, too, into its community and the impact of trauma upon it, of immigration, politics, abuse, and most importantly for this season's plot, family. Everyone is trying to run away from their past or rectify the wrongs of it - the struggle between Luke Cage and Carl Lucas, of Shades and Hernan, of Mariah Dillard and Stokes - and it opens the door to some fascinating, deep conversations (both in the show and outside of it), which help justify its existence but don't cover for all of the problems.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.