Marvel's Luke Cage (Netflix series)

I see Luke as an exemplary Hufflepuff all the way. He's even got the house colors.

I think Jessica's probably a very jaded, cynical Gryffindor. (Sort of like Sirius.) She values trust and bravery, she just doesn't get to experience either very often. And like a lot of people, Luke could probably end up in multiple houses. He's still deciding who he wants to be— he's smart and hard-working, but I think what matters to him most is simply doing the right thing, regardless of any higher ideal. But since she's the most classically heroic of the three we've seen so far, I suspect this is where he and Jessica could find some common ground. It's not necessarily about who they start out as, but rather what they value.

Danny was born rich, but hasn't been a spoiled rich kid for a very long time as an adult. (I'm assuming the series starts with him just returning to the US, not having reestablished his old ties.) The mystical bent could lend itself to Ravenclaw.

And I'd actually sort Matt into Hufflepuff, because seriously, no one works harder. Dedication, loyalty, fairness (and justice), all combined with the house flaw, that badger stubbornness.

There is that.

edited 16th Oct '16 2:40:13 PM by Unsung

Isn't stubborness Gryffindor's flaw too? Or is it recklessness? Because both fit Matt like a glove anyway.

A lot of people seem to agree that arrogance, stubbornness and volatility seem to be good ways of describing Gryffindor's flaws. Which fit both Matt and Jessica fairly well, really. Luke is definitely a Hufflepuff: an honest, dedicated and loyal guy. Matt's also into the whole "justice!" thing that characterizes a lot of other Hufflepuffs, but he takes it to the extreme, which is another one of Gryffindor's perceived flaws.

Hitokiri in the streets, daishouri in the sheets.

Okay...you have convinced me, Luke is a Hufflepuff...still stick with Jessica being a Slytherin, even if she isn't that ambitious (other than wanting to be left alone). I mean, that is the woman who blackmails her boss into giving her a nice severance package. And Matt is Gryffindor through and through.

Not all Slytherins are ambitious. Some, like Slughorn, would just prefer living in comfort.

Slughorn's ambition manifests in the form of living vicariously through his students.

I have more to say about Jessica but I'm going to take that to her thread, since I feel like I'm moving off the topic of Luke Cage in particular here.

edited 17th Oct '16 12:00:51 AM by Unsung

Yeah, sorry...(though it would be kind of funny if Jessica were more Ravenclaw and Danny turns out to be Slytherin, because than the colours would even fit).

On a different note, do we want Luke Cage Season 2 or simply Heroes for Hire? I think I would prefer Heroes for Hire...Luke needs a partner. They kind of solved the situation this season by having Claire around most of the time, but unless Luke is hurt there is no reason for her to hang out with him on missions so to speak.

Also, what happened to Connie and her husband? I mean they lost everything and they aren't even get a mention later on.

I'd like if Luke had a second season, but that it also included Danny. And then Danny's second season had Luke in it.

Same. I think having Danny as the secondary member of a Luke Cage show is easier than the other way around. By Heroes for Hire I assume you guys mean Daughters of the Dragon, since Defenders already seems to be that.

No, I actually meant that instead of giving Luke Cage a second season or Iron Fist a second season to give them both their second season together and call it Heroes for Hire...or Luke Cage and Iron First: Heroes for Hire, just for clarity.

I think giving everyone a second season except for the black superhero (and combining it with the season that will have a lot of Asian characters) kind of sends the wrong message.

edited 17th Oct '16 8:40:54 AM by alliterator

I know that, but Luke Cage and Iron Fist have their best stories together and neither of them really works out alone...just like Jessica Jones needs Trish, those two need each other.

That's why I think they can include Danny in Luke's second season and vice versa. They just don't need to call it "Heroes for Hire" (also because Luke repeatedly states that he's not for hire).

I got the impression that they were heavily hinting Pop's Barber Shop would end up as Heroes for Hire headquarters.

I also got the impression that Luke would remain pro bono for the people, but would charge if, say, Tony Stark walked up to him and asked if he could take care of something. That's the way he is in the comics: he's Harlem's hero, everybody else has to pay.

Luke and Danny are two characters whose mythoses are a great deal stronger together than apart. I also think they're leading up to both series fusing into a duo series, including the Daughters of the Dragon as well. Otherwise you'd be basically giving both characters two shows.

edited 17th Oct '16 10:37:15 AM by KnownUnknown

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

Plus, does it really matter that much how the show is named as long as Luke is still the lead? Or one of the leads?

It does matter a little, yeah, given that there aren't a ton of shows that African-Americans can call their own, and even fewer that have a large crossover audience outside of black America. Breaking down those barriers (and keeping them that way) is important unto itself, and I think everyone on the show is aware of that.

I'd kind of like to see shorter seasons, miniseries, specials. The idea that seasons have to follow some uniform structure and number of episodes is backwards in any format, but it's a holdover Netflix does not need to keep from traditional TV. Daredevil S2, for example, really wanted to tell its Punisher story, but you can tell they were just floundering trying to find ways to fill the rest of the season. Short story arcs and crossovers are more comic-booky than defaulting to a 12-13 episode season anyway, and shorter, more movie-like filming schedules are easier for actors to work around than longer TV commitments. I think it could actually open up a lot of possibilities for serialization that we don't often see.

Not that they should do away with longer seasons entirely, if that's the story they want to tell, but they shouldn't feel beholden to that.

edited 17th Oct '16 1:20:24 PM by Unsung

I think instead of merging Luke Cage and Iron Fist into a single Heroes for Hire show, they should rearrange the casts of Luke Cage and Iron Fist into a Heroes for Hire show AND a Daughters of the Dragon show, starring Misty Knight and Collen Wing.

That way we still get the same amount of content overall, and none of the supporting characters are screwed over since if they don't have a major role in Heroes for Hire they can have a major role in Daughters of the Dragon.

Yeah, I get all this, but that doesn't change the fact that the best Luke Cage stories are the ones he has with Iron Fist. So you no matter how you will call the show it will be a "Luke Cage and Iron Fist" show, just for the virtue of Iron Fist being there. So wouldn't it be dishonest to call the show "Luke Cage" when it clearly is a team up show?

Out of curiosity, though, let's assume they just do a Luke Cage season 2 without Iron Fist - what do you think a second season should say about the black community which hasn't been said already in the first season?

edited 17th Oct '16 12:34:18 PM by Swanpride

Dude that's brilliant, I'll be really disappointed now if this isn't the case. And Bobby Fish can be Luke's Lucius Fox.

I actually thought that this was a given...the bureau in the back and in the front Claire can help out with medical advice. Or the other way around. And it would still be Switzerland, because who in their right mind would shoot up the place if a bunch of heroes keep hanging around there. Other than the watchdogs, naturally. But then, they are not in their right mind....

edited 17th Oct '16 12:42:38 PM by Swanpride

Most of Luke Cage's first season was original stories with old Luke Cage characters mixed in. Cottonmouth? Not anything like the show. Black Mariah? Not anything like that show. Hell, in the comics, Diamondback isn't his brother at all and dies after one appearance.

I don't see why they can't continue doing the same thing for Season 2, continuing the story of Luke, with Mariah and Shades as the villains.

Because that would get stale very fast. This season already felt as if it would have been better served with at least two episodes less (which is more or less an issue with all the Netflix shows). It is especially problematic when it comes to the action scenes, because there really isn't much what Luke can do but brawling. That also gets boring very fast, he needs a partner to make the whole thing more interesting. And he needs someone to interact with on a permanent basis who isn't Claire. Jessica has Trish. Matt has Foggy and later on Electra (and I guess now it will be Karen).

See Tony has been the best since the first Iron Man in Civil war partly because he had Cap to play off. The Hulk it turns out doesn't really work that well as a lead at all for a movie, he is better served in a team-up with someone. The Cap movies are partly the best in the franchise because he always teams up with a bunch of characters who are interesting in their own right and offer a great counterpoint to him.

From a story-telling point of view Luke Cage needs this counterpoint.

edited 17th Oct '16 12:50:42 PM by Swanpride

I don't think it's dishonest. It's Luke Cage Season 2, but hey, Iron Fist is here too. Then in Iron Fist Season 2, they can have Luke be there, tit for tat. Luke was already in most of Jessica Jones, for that matter. They didn't call it Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, or even Alias.

If they want to do Heroes For Hire as a show, I'm all for it, but it's all in how you phrase it. It's not season 2 of Luke Cage or Iron Fist, it's just Heroes For Hire, *starring* Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

Or maybe they could just bundle all these shows together and rebrand them as The Night Nurse Mystery Hour.

edited 17th Oct '16 2:13:55 PM by Unsung

Combat Medic Claire as part of the Heroes for Hire would be damn neat.