Marvel's Luke Cage: 10 Things The Netflix Series Needs To Do To Succeed

Netflix has a pretty stellar track record with their Marvel series so far. Because of their successes with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, expectations are impossibly high for Luke Cage. But with the weight of those predecessors also comes a good blueprint for success. 

If it can emulate some of their shared strengths, it should have no trouble being a quality program. Visceral fights, a troubled lead character and an emotionally-charged narrative are just some of the qualities that the series can easily draw upon.

But Luke Cage still needs to find its own voice. With over 40 years of backstory and an astonishing evolution from a blaxploitation trope all the way to a fully-formed modern character, Cage should have no trouble distinguishing itself from the pack. The series needs to be highlighting the turmoil and growth that make his character special, and avoid becoming too familiar or derivative.

For the show to follow this Netflix model while still establishing its own voice is no small task, however. There's a lot of smaller elements to crafting his personality, environment and the characters around him that need to be handled perfectly for this series to work.

It certainly has the ability to live up to the Netflix standard, but that level of success is not going to come without doing a lot of things right first.

Clearly the idea of being a street-level hero in the MCU makes these characters somehow averse to traditional costumes. Part of their appeal is that they don’t adhere to the staples of the comic books and operate in a reality where some armour or a simple leather jacket is enough of a costume for them.

Much like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Luke Cage had a very recognizable costume in the comics. And while it may be ridiculous, for once, it would be cool to actually see it in action. His deep v-cut yellow shirt coupled with metal gauntlets and a literal chain around his waist is just too memorable to throw away without putting Mike Colter in it at least once.

It may be out of character to ask Cage to actually wear the costume, but hopefully it gets acknowledged in some meaningful way. The gag where Jessica ditched her old Jewel costume worked last time, but that same joke isn’t going to be as well-received a second time around. If Cage isn't going to physically embody his comic book past, he ought to at least reference it.