Luke Cage hit Netflix today and my wife and are are watching the pilot episode right now.
I’m not saying the show will suck, but the pilot is absolutely a snooze-fest and we’re 40 minutes in.
I’m definitely going to continue because I like the genre and loved Daredevil and Jessica Jones. The guy playing Luke Cage is also really well cast for the role.
Anyone else watching?
Not getting the snooze-fest vibe at all, having only watched the pilot just now. It’s slow, but the dialogue is fun. There’s some real humor in it, more so than in the other two IMO, which gives it a different feel.
And goddamn, that fist.
I was a bit doubtful, but on the basis of the first episode I plan to watch the next few, and if I keep liking it the whole series. I didn’t find it particularly slow, it seemed like a pretty good introduction to the other characters. I already “know” Cage from Jessica Jones.
It’s essentially a two part pilot, having now seen the first two.
We’ll keep going, but I do find it a bit of a bore.
I watched the first two episodes this evening. Interesting.
My question is, however, is this a retcon or are we in the same universe where Luke and Jessica have an ongoing relationship and, ultimately, a daughter named Danielle?
We’ll know that when we find out, O. There’s an element of retcon in that well, it all takes place now rather than having started when huge afros were the height of black fashion, but where the story with JJ will go in this particular version of the story remains TBD.
Cornell’s speeches about keeping Harlem black… why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, I’m used to hearing that from paler folk, but I’m sure used to hearing it. I like the dynamics between him and Mariah.
I was keen to watch it but after being very easily distracted from it I gave up watching just over half way through the pilot. By the next morning I had forgotten it entirely. So I guess it’s not for me.
I’m on episode 3 and I really like it. The first episode was a little slow but the characters were interesting enough for me to overlook that. The second episode kicks things up quite a bit. It’s very well acted and the dialogue is first rate, IMO. Also, it looks terrific. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into the set-up of every scene. The colour schemes, costumes, and camerawork all complement one another very nicely and easily evoke that noirish atmosphere the Marvel/Netflix superhero shows are known for. All in all, I think it’s a very promising start and I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
P.S. - Not being a fan of the comics themselves I don’t really know that much about the character, and something potentially problematic has just occurred to me. Does Luke Cage actually have any weaknesses? He might well do for all I know but, based on what I’ve watched so far, I’ve not been able to spot any. Daredevil and Jessica Jones can be killed, at least in theory. But Luke Cage is seemingly invulnerable. Entire buildings full of bad guys empty clip after clip into him and he feels nothing at all. If he really doesn’t have any physical weaknesses that does dilute the suspense a little bit. Still gonna keep watching though.
I saw Jessica Jones and I think he is as invulnerable as Superman. Not as strong, but literally impenetrable.
He has no Kryptonite, I think.
Well, I think it depends on how you define impenetrable. In JJ, Claire was able to enter his brain by sliding a needle along his optic nerve and not to spoil this series, they were able to enter his body using a variety of methods.
In fact, Mariah offered a variety of ways to kill Cage that didn’t depend on shooting him, the one thing they knew wouldn’t work…of course, she was ignored. That being said, Cage is pretty tough so it would be difficult to kill him regardless of what methods they used. In fact, I feel as if they reduced his power set to make him more vulnerable than he should’ve been or they were a bit inconsistent in how he used them.
Anyway, I enjoyed the series. It was a much different take on super-heroics than DareDevil and JJ portrayed and seemed much more slow-paced. This one spent much time on character development and I felt I understood the motivations of the characters very well; something that Dare Devil and J Jones lacked sometimes. So yeah if you’re used to a quick punch-up, this show isn’t going to deliver that, as it’s designed more as a traditional ‘the hero’s journey’ sort of thing and that takes some time to develop.
I missed the chemistry that Cage and Jones had, but his interactions with Misty and Claire was also very good, particularly Claire. I enjoyed the sense of fallibility that all the characters displayed and the real sense that the good guys might not win.
If you watched JJ you should know she almost killed him, didn’t even take super powers or anything. A point blank shotgun blast to the head almost did him in. His skin is impenetrable, his insides are not.
No Kryptonite, but spoiler alert, there are weapons that can hurt him. They’d do a worse number on anybody else, mind you.
I think they are starting to up his power levels since then, as the special weapons didn’t do the damage they should have and there’s an explanation as to how his insides are changing. His insides would have to tougher or he would have died from internal injuries from the bullets striking his body a long time ago.
Nothing about his insides “being changing”, it was about them being different; not that they’re supposed to continue changing, but that the powers affect all his epitelial cells including those inside.
I’ll have to rewatch it, then. Thanks.
So his insides get shaken/vibrated when he gets hit?
Does he need to breathe?
I didn’t like it. There were parts of it I did like (most of the acting and actors, the new supporting characters, the black lives matter theme, some of the shots and imagery), but overall I found it kind of boring and predictable. Jessica Jones was scary, Daredevil had a mystery in S1 (I didn’t like S2) and a lot of humor and The Power of Friendship. This was like… neither. It felt all over the place. Too many villains, too many endangered innocents.
I really wanted to like it, but my expectations weren’t so high nothing could reach them. So it’s always a bummer when a low bar can’t be met. I didn’t hate it and I’ll probably give it another go months from now on a rainy day or something, but it definitely wasn’t a MUST KEEP WATCHING marathon for me.
The Serpent Society?? Those crazy-brilliant bastards are bringing in the Serpent Society?? Very cool.
Also, I have no idea who this guy is, but he’s the guy they cast to play Danny “Iron Fist” Rand. I’ve never heard of him, but holy crap, he looks perfect for the role…
I thought the first episode was slow as well, but I’m more that willing to give the producers a chance given how good the other series have been.
If this show follows the format of the last two shows, expect a cameo in Luke Cage since Iron Fist is next.
Yes he does.
A lot of Mariah and Cornell’s lines are from racism in general. Some of hers are straight out of the Trump playbook.
This series is more of a “choral work” than any of the other series from either the Marvel or DC lines, the main character is the central one ok, but there’s a lot of time the camera isn’t on him. It’s about him, but it’s also about the context; it’s about politics, about racism, about how some people react about the unknown with curiosity and some with fear, and about how society isn’t some formless entity, it’s the people that make it up.
