"Marvel's Luke Cage" Main Trailer Thoughts and Reactions

So, I was away during Comic-Con this year, so I didn't get to cover a lot of stuff I would like to have talked about. So let's get some of that out of the way quickly: Doctor Strange looks awesome, as does Wonder Woman, Justice League is a little concerning but it's too early to pass judgement, and The Flash and Arrow TV shows look like they are taking one step forward but several steps backwards. What's left, though? That's right: the Marvel Netflix shows. The killed it at Comic-Con this year, giving us not only our first glimpses of Iron Fist and the highly-anticipated Defenders mini-series, but also at the next Marvel show that will be gracing our screens: Luke Cage. Bringing back the character from Jessica Jones, the little teaser they showed was mainly one corridor fight sequence (Marvel seems to really love these, huh?) and it looked pretty encouraging. Now we have a full trailer for the show, that gives a clearer look at other aspects of the show, including the villain and a few of the supporting characters, as well as the setting. Check it out below.

Right away, the big thing that we can take away from the trailer is that this is clearly going to be a very different series from both Daredevil and Jessica Jones. For one, the show has abandoned the Hell's Kitchen area where both of the other Marvel Netflix properties has been set in favour of Harlem, where Luke Cage is traditionally situated in the comics. That means entirely new communities, gangs, people, and tone to the other shows. One of the more subtle differences is highlighted by the end of the trailer. The neighbourhood is aware of what Cage is doing, he's turning his face to TV cameras even though he might not want credit for his actions, and he is clearly showing that he is the one attacking the criminal operations in Harlem. This is very different to the masked Daredevil or PI Jessica Jones. What could this mean for the series? The most obvious thing is a different relationship between the hero and the villain, with Mahershala Ali's Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes (who I'll get to in a bit) shown to be threatening Cage in person. If this means that Luke and Cottonmouth will be facing off more in person, then I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing here.

Mike Colter returns from "Jessica Jones" as Luke Cage

The trailer introduces a few new characters to the series, although some are given more time to shine than others. Of course, Mike Colter takes the spotlight as Cage himself, clearly shown to be the reluctant hero for the city. This should please comic book fans, since Cage typically asks to be paid before helping someone out, making up one half of the "Heroes for Hire," alongside Iron Fist. They're basically enforcers who take cash. Anyway, the villain is one of the other characters who is given more screen time. As I said, this is Cottonmouth, the leading crime boss of Harlem, who seems intent on ruling through fear, which Cage threatens. However, I think there's some little details which haven't been revealed about him just yet. Look at the way he is beating a guy to death so hard close to the beginning that blood is spraying up onto his face and shirt. The show synopsis also says that "Cage must confront his past" in the show. Is it possible that, since the show is going to explore the root and cause of Luke's abilities (as shown in the trailer), that Cottonmouth could have been part of the same experiment and is now using whatever his powers may be to rule the city, making him a match for our hero in a fight? I think so, but that's just me speculating. We only really get glimpses of other characters, such as Rosario Dawson returning as Claire Temple once again, seemingly only to cement that this takes place after Jessica Jones and because she probably has to be at this point. We also get a few quick shots of Simone Missick as Misty Knight and Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard, but there really isn't enough to talk about here, so let's move on.

Mahershala Ali as he appears in "House of Cards," another Netflix show

Prior to this trailer, what the marketing team had really focused on showing off was the action in the show, and for good reason. Continuing to play a big part in this trailer, the action looks very different from Daredevil and Jessica Jones, yet again. Thanks to his unbreakable skin, Cage is basically a tank and so has absolutely no need to do any fancy acrobatics or jumping over tables. He seems fine with just taking the hail of bullets coming his way, and then throwing the fools shooting at him through the air. One more factor I want to mention about this trailer is the use of humour. Yes, it's a small point and is overshadowed by the action and the intensity of the actors at quite a few points, but the little bits of humour scattered here and there only reassure me that this is going to be a dark series. Thankfully, just like the comics, we'll get appropriate and tasteful bits of humour where appropriate. It's not like someone's going to be cracking a one-liner while Cottonmouth is beating his henchman or others to death, though.

Alfre Woodard plays Mariah Dillard, a politician and cousin of Cottonmouth

Overall, does this trailer get me more excited for Luke Cage? Absolutely. I'm intrigued by the next direction this series is taking over every other Marvel property to date, but it is still backed up by some great acting, interesting characters and some simply incredible to watch action set pieces. The trailer has done it's job really well of getting myself, other fans of the comics, as well as just casual Netflix viewers, excited for September 30th to watch the whole series over one weekend.

All episodes of Luke Cage premiere on Netflix on September 30th, 2016.

Starring Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Mahershala Ali, Alfre Woodard, Theo Rossi, Frank Whaley, and Rosario Dawson.