At the Television Critics Association summer press tour, the creators and stars of upcoming Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage sat for a Q&A session with critics, noting how the series plays as a sort of reluctant hero-style western.
Head of Marvel Studios Television Jeph Loeb played up how Cage, at first, doesn't want to get involved with the chaos around him, which "has similarities to classic westerns. He’s the [lone] hero who arrives into town.”
Music is also a big influence on the series. Showrunner Cheo Hodari stated that each episode of Luke Cage is named after a Gang Starr song and that he took a very musical approach to things when creating the show. The first season is like an album, with episodes instead of songs.
“Luke Cage came out in 1972, the year I was born," Coker added. "The character was always Marvel Universe’s reaction to Blaxploitation.” And like in classic Blaxploitation films, the hero would fight, get the girl and get the big imposing camera shot from below. “The same as John Wayne, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen."
Coker then said he felt Luke Cage was a great fit for Netflix as it's built for both fans of the comic and those unfamiliar with the iconic '70s hero. “You can come in as a comic geek, a hip hop geek. It bears repeated viewing,” he said, adding that the series works really well on Netflix with no commercials. Going back to the Blaxploitation influence, he remarked, "We get to have swagger. A compelling hero and compelling villains. We spruced it up a little bit and added some music but it was going to be fun either way.”
Jeph Loeb then said that Luke Cage has most certainly evolved since his comic book debut, which is something Marvel does in general. “The character changes with the times," Loeb said. "I think if the character hadn’t grown and remained relevant today, I don’t think we could get this level of talent for the series.”
From what we've seen of Luke Cage, he's a pretty imposing figure as is. But will he go from the hoodie to Cage's more famous comic book look? “The yellow shirt and the tiara aren’t immediately present,” Coker said with a laugh.
Growing up, Coker was a big fan of comics like X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the Claremont/Miller Wolverine series and was used to his comic books being filled with social issues. Meaning, it didn't feel like an odd fit at all for Luke Cage.
That being said, star Mike Colter noted, "We're just trying to tell a story. We have no agenda. But I hope the black community can feel good about [the series]."
Regarding character crossovers, Loeb and Coker noted that Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) would appear. No one else was confirmed as of yet, but Loeb stressed that while Easter eggs are fun, he didn’t want them to ever be there for their own sake or have a character appear without any significance, saying you wouldn’t see, “Luke Cage gets into a cab as Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson get out of a cab.” If someone guest stars, the aim was, Loeb stressed, “You actually see them interact with each other.”
Marvel's Luke Cage premieres September 30th.
Additional reporting by Eric Goldman.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at http://ift.tt/1kiBJkp.
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