Marvel's Luke Cage has come around much faster than anyone expected.
Originally planned as the fourth of Marvel's solo-superhero shows – following Daredevil, Jessica Jones and the still-stalled Iron Fist – the series was moved up to third position, and filming began shortly before Mike Colter's Luke made his debut on Jessica Jones.
The accelerated timeline came as a surprise to Colter, who signed on expecting a much longer gap between the end of Jessica Jones and the beginning of Luke's solo spin-off.
But the lack of a showrunner for Iron Fist, coupled with Cheo Hodari Coker's strong pitch for Luke Cage, made it a no-brainer to move the show up.
"I had a lot of questions," Colter told Digital Spy at the TCA Press Tour yesterday (August 7). "How does this supporting, peripheral character come into his own, what is the story, who are his nemeses? Luke is best when you put him in a situation where he's forced to do something.
"What makes these characters interesting is that they don't necessarily want to get involved. Jessica was compelled to get involved because of what [Kilgrave] had done to her, she had to purge herself and sort of heal herself by helping others.
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"The Hope case gave her something to hold on to in fighting her own demons."
Luke's got plenty of demons of his own to purge – not least the fact that he's a convict on the run. "We see him come to terms with that," Colter said, "and also step up as a leader in a community that desperately needs him".
That community is in the New York neighborhood of Harlem, an evocative setting which lends Luke Cage a tone distinct from the Hells Kitchen-based Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
"Harlem wasn't the original idea," Colter revealed, "because everything's in Hells Kitchen, but it's so ideal that you can just jump on an express from there to Harlem.
"Harlem has characteristics that make it very unique and special, it adds a whole other vibe. It has these wide streets, wide sidewalks, it's just a different feel. I think we would be remiss if we didn't take Luke Cage to Harlem, where it makes so much sense to tell the story of his origins."
Marvel's Luke Cage premieres on Netflix on September 30.
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
