List of Luke Cage characters
Luke Cage is an American streaming television series created for Netflix by Cheo Hodari Coker, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is the third in a series of shows that lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries.
The series stars Mike Colter as Luke Cage, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime. Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard also star. Colter reprises his role from the series Jessica Jones, while Dawson returns after portraying the character Claire Temple in the other Marvel Netflix series. Mahershala Ali and Erik LaRay Harvey also star in the first season, while Gabrielle Dennis and Mustafa Shakir joined the cast for the second season. In addition to original characters, several characters based on various Marvel properties also appear throughout the series.
Overview
Main characters
Carl Lucas / Luke Cage
Carl Lucas, a former convict who was given superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, now fights crime under the name Luke Cage.By November 2014, Lance Gross, Colter, and Cleo Anthony were in contention for the role of Luke Cage, a recurring role on the series Marvel's Jessica Jones followed by a headlining role on Luke Cage. Colter was confirmed in the role the next month, as a series regular in both series. He signed on for the two shows without reading any scripts. Colter had been reluctant to sign on due to the comics depiction of the character, which he was familiar with already, saying "when I saw the tiara, all the 1970s blacksploitation stuff, I was like, 'oh my God...' But they assured me, '...we're doing a modern day version.'"
Colter discussed the differences in his portrayal in the two series, saying, "You're not always the same person around everyone you know... you might not necessarily behave the same way around your mom that you would with your wife or your boss or your fraternity brothers." In Jessica Jones, Cage was vulnerable and "in a bit of a freefall", but in Luke Cage "he's trying to regroup and trying to figure out what's his next move. And then the events that happen in the first few episodes get him going, they catapult him into action." On factoring in race when playing the character, Colter said, "The approach with the character for me is more about the human qualities and the things that make Luke Cage tick... the writers have to then decide to bring in the race of the character, if there's an angle there. But I don't look at it as something I have to prep differently for... it's more of an aside". Colter put on of muscle for the role. David Austin and Clifton Cutrary portray a young and teenage Lucas, respectively.
Describing Cage, Colter said, "He's a neighborhood hero, very much linked to New York and Jessica Jones. It's all part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Luke Cage is a darker, grittier, more tangible character than Iron Man or Thor... He has these abilities but he's not sure how and when to use them. Later elaborating, Colter said, "He's a renaissance man, he's trying to better himself and there's something to be said about someone who's always trying to make themselves better, trying to change." Colter noted that the character's catch phrase 'Sweet Christmas' is used in the series, saying "I was afraid of that phrase, but it actually fits so well, I don't know why, I don't know why it fits so well into Luke's mouth." The phrase is used sparingly though, with the character often "opting instead for pensive silence"; composer Adrian Younge said, "He's a black superhero, but he's a different type of black alpha male. He's not bombastic. You rarely see a modern black male character who is soulful and intelligent."
Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes
Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes is the owner of the Harlem's Paradise nightclub and the cousin of Mariah Dillard, who deals in illegal operations. He is later killed by an enraged Mariah who first framed Luke Cage for the murder and later shifted it to Diamondback.Ali joined the cast as Stokes in September 2015, despite knowing that the character would die early on in the series. He compared the experience to "shooting a film, as opposed to stepping into another marriage that you never know how long is going to work out" explaining that when Netflix approached him "about Luke Cage, they gave me the arc, and for the first time, I found myself excited by a character's departure, because I felt like this was something I could give my all to for a period of time before saying 'peace' to him... It gave me a certain freedom to try to do my best work and make peace with it once he experiences his demise." Elijah Boothe portrays a young Stokes.
Ali described Stokes as "a Godfather-type villain", while Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb referred to him as "the other hero of the story", continuing the tradition of previous Marvel Netflix villains Wilson Fisk and Kilgrave. Ali felt that Stokes is "complicated in his own way. He's somebody who goes about things in a different way than the normal person, including myself." Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, a former music journalist, said that the attitude of rapper Biggie Smalls, whom Coker had been friends with, permeates Luke Cage but particularly influenced his version of Cottonmouth. Ali, who creates mixtapes for each of the characters he portrays so "sonically, the character has a soundtrack", stated that his mixtape for Cottonmouth took into account the fact that he was from Harlem, and included songs from Big L, Diamond D, Brand Nubian, D'Angelo, Mobb Deep, Kanye West, and Erykah Badu.
Misty Knight
Mercedes Kelly "Misty" Knight is a Detective at the 29th Precinct and partner of Rafael Scarfe with a strong sense of justice, who is determined to learn about Cage. After losing her right arm in an encounter with Bakuto, she returns to the police force as Claire Temple and Colleen Wing help her cope with having one arm. She is later given a robotic arm by Danny Rand and Colleen Wing.Missick, who was announced in the role of Knight in September 2015, described the character as "her own person. She's not the wife. She's not a girlfriend. She's not a sidepiece or a sidekick." Missick continued that Misty Knight is "a person who has a very strong moral compass who is absolutely dedicated to protecting her community", adding her proudest moment in playing the character, was that she "believes in the system, even though... our current times, it's difficult to believe in the system." In approaching the character, Missick chose to not read the comics to avoid the expectations of fans, and instead focus on creating her version of the character. In the series, Knight has what Missick called a "superpower" referred to as 'Misty Vision' that allows her to look at a crime scene and deduce what happened.
Hernan "Shades" Alvarez
Hernan "Shades" Alvarez is a relentless, menacing, smooth and manipulative, street smart criminal working for Diamondback with ties to Cage's past where they were inmates at Seagate Prison. By the end of season two, Shades is arrested for the murder of Candace Miller and Comanche.Rossi was announced as being cast as Shades in September 2015. Loeb called Shades "kind of the Littlefinger of Luke Cage", "the ultimate opportunist". He wears sunglasses for most of the series, and used Marvel's Daredevil and Charlie Cox's acting as research, since he could not use his eyes to act, similar to Cox as Matt Murdock.
Willis Stryker / Diamondback
Willis Stryker is a powerful arms dealer who is Cage's half-brother and the one who framed him for the crime that sent him to Seagate Prison. He later has a showdown with Luke Cage outside of Pop's barbershop while sporting an exo-suit. Luke manages to defeat Diamondback, who is arrested by the police. Luke later tells Jessica Jones he had Stryker sent to the Raft.In March 2016, set photos revealed that Harvey had been cast as Stryker in the series. This was not officially announced by Marvel prior to the series' release, and Harvey agreed not to do any publicity for the show, to not "ruin the twist" of Stryker being the series' main villain. Harvey chose not to read the comics to learn more about the character in order to not "interfere with what we were trying to do and cloud my judgment," instead relying on Coker to develop the 2016 version of Stryker, including adjusting his backstory to be the half-brother of Carl Lucas. However, Coker did try to bring as much of the comics' version of the character to the series as he could, including adapting the character's comic costume into armor that allows Stryker to match Cage's super strength. Jared Kemp portrays a teenage Stryker.
Harvey talked about the character's illegitimacy, saying, "My character had been called a bastard his whole life. How does that make a person operate? How would you feel if your childhood was illegitimized and ignored and swept under a rug? That's what drives Willis... He gets sent away because of his father's actions and then once he's in the jail system, he just gets tortured. After all that, his mind's been twisted and warped, and he's developed this sensitivity that's almost psychopathic." Regarding the character's fighting style, Harvey worked with the series' fight coordinator to give Stryker "quick, really fast dabs and slithers" in his movement "because he's very elusive", given "Diamondback" is named after a species of snakes. The character is always seen smiling when killing or defaming Cage's name, which is "just his way of dealing with his pain. He smiles through his pain."
Claire Temple
Claire Temple is a nurse in Hell's Kitchen, whose friendship with Cage will affect both of their lives.In November 2015, Dawson was confirmed to be reprising her role of Temple from the previous Marvel Netflix series. "Because she plays a nurse that basically seems to be in the right place at the right time, and she's very good at helping out superheroes who are in need, and I think you will see some of that in Luke Cage," said Colter. "Ultimately I think she's going to be a very good companion for Luke. I think she's someone that Luke needs in his life at this time."