The trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Luke Cage is making the rounds this week, and my goodness does it pack a punch.
Starring Mike Colter as the invincible hero-for-hire who walks the streets of Harlem, Marvel’s Power Man looks like it will offer the same gritty, well-written world to the small screen that includes inhabitant’s Jessica Jones and Daredevil.
Cage is another step in Marvel’s eventual world domination. Upcoming anti heroes Iron Fist and The Punisher are set to make their Netflix debuts, culminating in The Defenders, the ultimate team-up miniseries that will prove to be the uber angsty version of the Avengers.
Set to premiere sometime in 2017, The Defenders will team up the emotionally crippled PTSD Jones (Krysten Ritter), her one-time hook-up and bar owning badass Cage, blind legal eagle Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and a caucasian Danny Rand (Finn Jones).
Second Amendment enthusiast Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) will sit this one out as part of the official lineup, but that’s not to say he won’t show up.
The lineup for the Netflix series is a mixed bag of past lineups from the original series, which debuted in 1972. While Cage was always a mainstay in the The Defenders, Iron Fist didn’t become a team player until 2011 when Matt Fraction reintroduced the team. And Daredevil and the Lady Jones were never part of the gang.
Creating The Defenders opens a lot of doors for Marvel in as far as introducing more characters to the small screen universe. While original Defenders Doctor Strange and Hulk have their own thing going on with the silver screen, other Marvel mainstays and major characters can be included in later incarnations, or at least given a shout out in hopes of future series.
It has long been thought that the relationship between Marvel and Netflix is the perfect place to reboot tarnished heroes to bombed at the box office and introduce big players who have yet to make a movie deal. Rumors of new versions of Blade and Ghost Rider are already making the rounds, but what about characters that NEED this new intro.
That in mind, here is small wishlist of supers who needs to make their small screen bow via the streaming service.
The Silver Surfer
The space-traveling humanoid who was once a lackey of Galactus made a big screen debut in 2007 in the abysmal Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Thus, a brand-new Netflix reboot is just what the doctor ordered, if Marvel can wrestle the rights away from Fox.
Namor, The Sub-Mariner
This saltwater superhero in a Speedo has always been a fan favorite if only for his disdain for mankind as a whole. Filled with angst and armed with an FU attitude, Namor is often credited as Marvel’s first mutant given his Golden Age roots as a character from Timely Comics in the ‘40s.
For a bulk of his career, Namor was always on the brink of destroying mankind. It would be amazing to see how he can work his way into the new Marvel Universe.
She-Hulk
I will tell you right now that She-Hulk is my favorite Marvel character of all time. Despite recent controversy that paints the cousin of Bruce Banner as a sex object, do not underestimate the Jennifer Walters alter-ego.
She-Hulk has been a member of almost every single Marvel match-up and superhero fighting group since her debut in 1980. And while many people find it easy to dismiss her as a green bombshell in a bathing suit, let’s not forget that Walters is one of the great brains of the Marvel Uuniverse.
Also, the great green one has a fab sense of humor, which is a major part of her own book. She can easily be added to lighten things up.
Hellcat
If there’s one character that I’d bet money on showing up in The Defenders it’s Hellcat. Although in the comics she’s sometimes blessed with a force field and supernatural precognitive abilities, Hellcat is, at her core a well-trained martial artist and uses retractable claws. In the comics, she’s known as Patsy Walker, who’s young adult life was fictionalized and chronicled as a comic book character by her novelist mother.
Since Trish Walker (played by Rachael Taylor in Jessica Jones) was seen training extensively in martial arts and shares a similar background (Trish was a former child star who was exploited by her publicity happy mother), and is best friends with Jessica, the chances of her donning a uniform are pretty likely.
Nighthawk
There have been a handful of Nighthawks throughout the Marvel Universe, but perhaps the strongest version for this new Marvel Universe is Kyle Richmond, whose tragic backstory includes the accidental death of his college sweetie, a heart problem and alcoholism.
Originally a villain, the hero becomes best buddies with Daredevil, even saving him from Hell on one occasion.
Luke Cage premieres Friday, September 30th on Netflix
Jessica Jones season two begin production in 2017.
Iron Fist and The Defenders have premiere dates set for 2017.
