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Believe it or not, I would have been very shocked if Danny Rand to show up in the first season of Luke Cage. I figured if they really wanted Iron Fist and Luke Cage to team up in the first season of either character, then they would of put Iron Fist before Luke Cage, since the logical place to start his show (and everything we've seen points in this direction) is immediately after his return to New York City.
And unfortunately, given how Luke Cage ended I'm not really banking on Luke Cage having a cameo in Iron Fist either since it'll probably take a little while for him to sort out his legal troubles. My guess is that they'll meet during Defenders and strike up a friendship, and then do a proper teamup season in the second season of Luke Cage.
edited 1st Oct '16 5:56:15 PM by Falrinn
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It didn't stand out to me during the show, because it felt completely natural, but it's certainly unusual for a TV show, and it's a good thing to see. All the main characters were black or latino, and I'm not sure if there were even any white secondary characters in the whole show (Misty's partner, if he was white, but he may have been latino?). [EDIT: Scratch that, there were the prison guard and the prison doctor in Georgia.]
I thought it was very good. The pacing felt stronger than in any of the other Marvel Netflix shows; overall, I'd say it wasn't as good as Jessica Jones (which had a more compelling villain and an extremely compelling and complex concept), but was better than either season of Daredevil. Luke Cage - his personality, his backstory, his powers, the social context and relevance to current sociopolitical issue - is just plain more interesting than Murdoch ever was. Daredevil Season 1 had a great villain, but I'd rather have a compelling protagonist than a compelling antagonist if I have to choose one.
I started out disliking Shades, and got to liking him better and better in the later episodes of the show due to his unruffled attitude and Only Sane Man status in Diamondback's organization when Diamondback was getting fully invested in the personal vendetta. He doesn't have enough of a personality to be a truly compelling villain, but he makes a good second to Mariah.
I expect it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that we've not got a guy named Willis Stryker who's the son of a pastor, quotes the Bible, and raises fears and hostility towards superpowered people. Feels like Marvel is deliberately moving towards some of the issues about attitudes towards powered people that we see in the X-Men comics, and even towards some of the storylines and characters. But he's black, his name's Willis and not William, he's not a pastor himself, he's black, and he's Luke Cage's brother, so that sets him far enough apart from the X-Men variety of Stryker to avoid stepping on Fox's turf. It feels like Civil War is just the beginning in Marvel tackling mundanes' attitudes towards powered people.
The endings of Marvel shows seem to be going downhill - for the characters, not in terms of quality. Daredevil had victories, on the whole; Jessica's ending was bittersweet at best; and Luke's was an outright defeat despite him beating Diamondback. Him being sent back to jail at the end was a gutpunch. Makes me want to see a Defenders series deal with that before we move on to Iron Fist.
edited 1st Oct '16 6:29:15 PM by Galadriel
I admit...my first thought when Claire mentioned the great lawyer she knows was "wait, she hasn't meet Hogarth yet, has she?" then I thought "Oh, wait, Foggy is now specialized in fighting for Supernatural people, and she might be able to contact him." and then I realized that Matt is a lawyer too...but he did so little lawyering last season, I just forgot....
By the end of Daredevil's Season 2, it doesn't really look like it. It just seems he's about to fully immerse himself into the Daredevil persona. And I have a feeling that Claire's referring to Matt more than Foggy, if only because of the Defenders angle.
And Matt's a pretty good lawyer when his Daredevil-ing isn't getting in the way of it. He more than pulled his weight in the first season, and in the second season it was more because of Castle blowing stuff up.
edited 2nd Oct '16 12:21:40 AM by ITNW1989
Hitokiri in the streets, daishouri in the sheets.Oddly enough, while Luke Cage's ending is the most overtly downer, in the sense that it ends with the protagonist going to jail, it's also the most uplifting in its own way - with its characters in the most positive place. Unlike Matt and Jessica, Luke isn't depressed or cut off from the people he needs. He has a network of people who will help him and who he pledges to help in return. He has the love and support of his community, and his story - including the good he's done and his innocence in a general sense - is well known: he's an icon. Mariah's still out there, but she can't hide behind the Wounded Gazelle Gambit any more, and Luke doesn't feel like he's failed to accomplish what he set out to any more. And despite being sent back to prison, Luke is in positive, progressive place mentally - more than he's ever been before - and he's about to have Matt Murdock on his side.
It's all in all far less bleak than the other two.
Luke's ending feels a lot like the ending to Civil War. Cap is a fugitive, but he's still got the will to do what's right - debate over whether he's doing the right thing aside - and we're all but told that the obstacles in his way aren't enough to stop him. Likewise: Luke Cage Will Return.
I'd tend to agree that despite Mariah getting off scot-free, Luke Cage's ending is pretty uplifting. At this point, he's actually the most archetypal superhero in the whole MCU— correct me if I'm wrong, but he hasn't killed anybody, he's well-known and loved by the public, he puts a face to powered people on a level that the Avengers don't, and there's a belief that people taken as a whole are good— the system works, even if it works slowly: Always Forward. People as a whole want positive change and are willing to stand behind their champions. The problem with figures like Cottonmouth and later Mariah isn't what they say or the fact that people want to believe them, but rather all the ways in which corrupt leaders don't follow through on their own rhetoric. But not every leader is corrupt. Not all authorities are in the pocket of the Kingpin or the Blacksmith or Cottonmouth and Mariah Dillard.
Luke goes back to Seagate willingly. He wants his freedom, but he wants it legitimately— by proving his innocence and clearing his name. The fact that the this is all treated as *possible* shows a much brighter outlook than Daredevil, where if authorities are trustworthy then they're also ineffectual, or if they're neither corrupt nor useless then they'll probably end up dead. I still like Daredevil for what it is, but I fully admit it's a bleak damn show. (Daredevil's always been Batman minus a lot of the perks.) As for Jessica Jones— it's a relatively happy ending for Jessica and Trish, but given what it took to get there, it does feel kind of pyrrhic. A relief, rather than a triumph.
edited 2nd Oct '16 1:45:37 AM by Unsung
Sorry, Netflix, but I didn't like this one at all.
Poor editing, the lead actor's poor acting/line delivery, annoying "black" tropes and the most only compelling character being killed off for shock value all contributed to my distaste for this show.
edited 2nd Oct '16 1:15:59 AM by Cruherrx
"If you weren't so crazy I'd think you were insane."I kind of feel bad for it because I knew what the price for it would be but I actually wanted Mariah and Shades come out on top in this little gangster struggle. After they already wasted Cottonmouth (who was a complex villain even before they threw the whole musician thing in) in order to replace him with Diamondback (who was incredible boring and I am honestly not in a hurry to see him again...also, they should have made him female), I was kind of terrified that Shades and/or Mariah would be taken out of the show, too, which I would have disliked. They are both smart, and I have a thing for smart villains. But yeah, it is kind of depressing that Harlem is back to the status quo in the end and yet, the ending was quite hopeful overall, especially since the file turned up. I can't wait to read all the fanfics about Matt defending Luke. I did dislike though, that they made Claire Luke's love interest in the end. Honestly, is the concept that Man and woman can simply be friends that complicated to understand? Why should Claire after breaking up with Matt because of his superheroing be interested in a relationship with yet another superhero, even if this one doesn't wear a mask and doesn't have a self-destructive personality?
Why am I not surprised?
edited 2nd Oct '16 1:21:12 AM by Swanpride
... Because he doesn't wear a mask, and isn't selfdestructive? Also, that is one fine man. I did find it funny that the one hero in these shows who had someone try to frame him is the one who always shows his face. It'd be so much easier to pull that stunt on daredevil
edited 2nd Oct '16 3:46:58 AM by Izeinsummer
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I think that it works because Matt and Luke are polar opposites in the way they see their heroic deeds. Matt is a Blood Knight who cannot stop being Daredevil, even when it becomes obvious it is hurting his friends and everyone around him. Luke meanwhile wants to stop being famous, he just wants a normal life, and he "suits up", so to speak, for selfless reasons, as opposed to Matt's often selfish ones.
I think it is the reason Claire is not OK with the former, but very much OK with the latter. Luke only acts as a hero when it is right to do so. If he were to clean up Harlem and make his friends safe, he would stop and live a peaceful life, since that is all he wants. Matt will never stop from going out to put the hurt on criminals, and if Hell's Kitchen were to be cleansed, then he would go someplace else, because he needs it. Hence why Claire might think a relationship is possible with Luke, but not with Matt. I will also add that Luke is shown to be friends with Misty at the end (despite the way they started), which is a rather mature way to handle a relationship between consenting adults.
Also, again, Luke Cage is the first Marvel superhero, and maybe the first superhero, period, for whom I find sexual tension with multiple people logical. Aside from being a total beefcake, Luke is a smart, sharp, polite and well-adjusted individual who will only ever be sweet with you if you are nice and respectful. And he can even be a bit dorky or cheesy, as exemplified with his interactions with Claire. Being attracted to him feels almost logical.
edited 2nd Oct '16 4:09:56 AM by Julep
Oh, I want to add that the NBA fan that I am was overjoyed to hear some real basketball talk. So far, the best I got in a series was Liv Moore eating coach brains in iZombie and throwing a bunch of jokes over Kristaps Porzingis - which most people might have heard about as it was all rather fresh, since he arrived in the NBA in 2015.
But Pop and Luke talk about the legendary 90's New York Knicks of Pat Ewing and John Starks. They are a piece of sports history, and their conversation actually sounded like something two NBA fans could talk about while working. It didn't feel forced - just like the moment where Scarfe learned that Misty was a Celtics fan.
Also, since it appears that he was created for the series, I wonder if there wasn't a stealthy Shout-Out by having a mentor figure and basketball fan named "Pop"
(even though I don't really picture Cheo Hodari Coker as a Spurs' fan).
edited 2nd Oct '16 8:18:44 AM by Julep
The show takes place in Harlem, which is home to the most famous "independent" basketball team there is - the Harlem Globetrotters.
Also I think that the Yankees are the most popular team in New York, but as is mentioned during the show, baseball isn't a "black" sport at all, while basketball very much is.
edited 2nd Oct '16 9:29:33 AM by Julep
I'm also a bit disappointed at Claire/Luke. Mostly because I think it's a lot better for her character to legitimately bring all these people together without having to be shipped with one of them, like some obligatory romance. It also felt like giving Luke a rebound to get over his issues rather than letting those issues die naturally. And all in all I didn't think it was handled well - again because it felt like an obligatory "giving the hero the girl" arc.
But whatever. Unless they CW this piece Luke is going to end up with Jessica anyway. Yay Love Triangles, surely they are the highest form of drama!
edited 2nd Oct '16 10:16:29 AM by KnownUnknown
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Urgh, don't remind me....also, is does anyone know how old Simone Missick is? To me it looks like she is more on the older side (meaning in her mid-thirties), unlike Finn Jones, who is, I think, in his late 20s and looks even younger. If they go for that pairing it will be quite interesting, since usually the female partner looks younger than the male.
that's what Pop thinks...in reality, though, all the woman he slept with beforehand was the rebound, Jessica meant to him more than that. Misty is the rebound for Jessica, though.
That was another thing which bothered me...I get that they wanted Luke Cage to stand on its own, but the way Jessica was just dismissed when it comes to his current emotional state is kind of insulting. Not just to her, but also to him. That was quite a traumatic experience, after all, and he is quite lucky that Jessica refused to sleep with him while he was still under Killgrave's influence. He came very close to being raped.
edited 2nd Oct '16 10:44:21 AM by Swanpride
Luke did ask for Misty's number before she left to investigate Shameek's murder. And Misty hinted that she'd find him again. I suppose it could have turned into something else, but Misty lying about her profession pretty much killed that.
edited 2nd Oct '16 10:45:46 AM by ITNW1989
Hitokiri in the streets, daishouri in the sheets.Man, this series brings out the Manly Tears in me. So fucking much.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I said "unsettling" because "weird" or "disturbing" have negative connotations and I did not want to imply that creating a show with the default characters being black was in any way bad. It is unsettling, for me, because it never happened before. I never watched a (Western) vibrant show where main, secondary and background characters were not white.
I hope it will pave the way for many more, and will also make a point against any future Hollywood whitewashing.