Netflix unveils first Luke Cage trailer ahead of series debut

Luke Cage | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Tuesday 9 August 2016

ADVERTISEMENT

Netflix has released the first trailer for its next Marvel superhero show, Luke Cage.

The super-strong hero-for-hire first appeared in last year"s Jessica Jones, played by Mike Colter. Not much of his backstory was given there, although the show did establish his relationship with Jessica.

His solo show appears to fill in the gaps for the character, flashing back to his origin and establishing a wide supporting cast in Harlem - the first of the Netflix Marvel shows to not have a focus on h**l"s Kitchen.

Marvel Television / Netflix

Netflix"s description for the series sounds like the show sticks pretty close to Luke"s comic book roots too.

ADVERTISEMENT

It reads, "After a sabotaged experiment leaves him with super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive trying to rebuild his life in modern day Harlem, New York City. But he is soon pulled out of the shadows and must fight a battle for the heart of his city forcing him to confront a past he had tried to bury."

Fans of the character from his earliest comics appearances will be pleased with one particular bit of fanservice in the trailer - a glimpse of Cage, just after the experiment where he gains his powers, wearing restraints that echo the tiara and gauntlets of his original costume. Don"t expect that to last though - elsewhere, he"s seen in regular clothes. With the exception of Daredevil, who only adopted his familiar red uniform at the very end of the first season, this continues the Netflix television shows tendency to shun costumes and colourful superheroics in favour of a grittier, street-level vibe.

Marvel Television / Netflix

ADVERTISEMENT

Along with Colter reprising his role, the series will see Mahershala Ali as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard (here a local politician, but with a very different role in print), Simone Missick as fellow Marvel superhero/private investigator Misty Knight), Theo Rossi as Shades, Frank Whaley as Rafael Scarfe, and Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple.

Dawson"s character, whose onscreen portrayal combines elements of her comic book counterpart with another niche Marvel hero, has been a fixture of the Netflix shows since the first season of Daredevil. Missick"s take on Misty Knight, meanwhile, has been confirmed to crossover to the upcoming Iron Fist, the last of the originally-announced Marvel shows before Netflix launches the team-up series The Defenders.

Cheo Hodari Coker, the writer and producer behind the likes of SouthLAnd, Ray Donovan, and Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious, will serve as showrunner on Luke Cage. The complete first season drops onto Netflix on September 30, worldwide.

Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/netflix-unveils-first-luke-cage-trailer