‘Luke Cage’ Spoiler Review: Flaws Rise To The Surface In Final 6 Episodes

Felt new and a part of the MCU at the same time

The MCU references are sprinkled throughout, with most of them relating to the Netflix shows. There’s the consequences of Kingpin’s arrest (which is appropriate as the episode very clearly sets up Cage and Cottonmouth much like Daredevil season 1 set up Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, a hero and villain with equal nuance and equally-interesting, intersecting storylines), talk of Jessica’s murder of Kilgrave and a cool Easter egg for Iron Fist at the end of the finale (pic above).

More broadly, there’s videos of “the Incident” (aka The Avengers) on sale, references to Hammer Tech and Seagate (where Justin Hammer and fake Mandarin Trevor Slattery were incarcerated at points). The series seems to occur in pre-Civil War chronology, as tension builds throughout the season about the emergence of powered individuals like Cage and how communities react to them, with the debate swinging from one direction to another.

Another more subtle reference occurs at the end of episode 4, which is essentially the “Luke Cage Begins” origin story. Cage is surrounded by cameras while leaving the scene of one of his amazing feats. He considers answering their questions, turns and says plainly “I’m Luke Cage.” Deliberate shades of “I am Iron Man” There’s also Pop openly comparing Luke to the Marvel big guns while casually dropping his comic name of Power Man, something Claire picks up on later. There’s even a brief, loving mockery of Cage’s 70s blaxpoitation costume a la the treatment Jessica Jones gave her comic outfit.

What this series did arguably the best of the three Netflix/Marvel series to premiere was establish itself firmly in the MCU while forging its own distinct identity that feels fresh and new.

Now for what didn’t work . . .