# Luke Cage - Power Man! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179 "2004-03-24T20:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/1 "2004-03-24T20:03:47Z")
From _The Comics Continuum_… [http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0403/23/index.htm](http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0403/23/index.htm) > [@](#): > > John Singleton, director of the Luke Cage movie, told The Continuum that an announcement regarding the lead actor should be made soon. > > “I got a couple of people in mind, but it’s premature to say,” Singleton told The Continuum after the Spider-Man 2 panel last weekend at Wizard World Los Angeles. “It’s going to be announced in probably a week or so who’s going to be Cage.” I wonder if Nicolas Cage will try to get the part? (He got his name from the character.) I don’t think Singleton would go for the “blackface” look, though. “Sweet Christmas!” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/2 "2004-03-24T20:35:12Z")
If they can just get the Ray Park _Iron Fist_ movie going, then maybe in the near future we can have a Heroes for Hire film! ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/3 "2004-03-24T21:13:14Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > If they can just get the Ray Park _Iron Fist_ movie going, then maybe in the near future we can have a Heroes for Hire film! I was just going to post the same thought! 😃 A **Luke Cage** film, then an **Iron Fist** film, then a crossover sequel. A good way to prolong a series, if you ask me. Then, maybe they can do another sequel with She-Hulk sunbathing topless on top of an apartment building. 😃 Geez, I’m pathetic! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/4 "2004-03-26T05:05:45Z")
Nicolas Cage could play D.W. (Luke’s pseudo-stoner “sidekick/comic relief/token _hownkie_”) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/5 "2004-03-26T05:47:13Z")
Of all the Marvel movies they could still make, they’re going with a relatively unknown and overall craptacular hero like Power Man? Bleh. I want an Iron Man film, damn it. Or a good F4 or Captain America movie to forget the horrible ones that’re already out there. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/6 "2004-03-26T07:19:54Z")
Two words: Cuba Gooding I keed, I keed ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/7 "2004-03-26T07:24:11Z")
> [@TOTBP](#): > > I was just going to post the same thought! 😃 A **Luke Cage** film, then an **Iron Fist** film, then a crossover sequel. A good way to prolong a series, if you ask me. > > Then, maybe they can do another sequel with She-Hulk sunbathing topless on top of an apartment building. 😃 Geez, I’m pathetic! 😉 “Who was that?” “I don’t know but my asshole is killing me!” ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/8 "2004-03-27T07:25:16Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > “Who was that?” > “I don’t know but my asshole is killing me!” 😃 I doubt it will come close, but if Singleton’s film is as raunchy as Luke Cage has been of late in the comics, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. I’d love to see Marvel flirt with an NC-17 rating. 😉 **Aesiron** , while I’d love to see more of the big-name heroes come to the big-screen (I’d love to see **Iron Man** , as well, in all his alcoholic glory), I feel the lesser-known characters are a great source for quality films. There’s much less backstory and fanbase expectations to screw up, and a lot of these B-heroes could use a movie makeover. These films, if done well, could actually make some of these characters “cool” for once. **Blade** , for example, was virtually unknown to the general populace before his film debut. Now, he’s probably more recognizable to non-comics readers than some of the true comic icons. (I just don’t understand why Marvel hasn’t put out a new Blade series yet. Maybe they’re waiting until after _Blade: Trinity_.) Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/9 "2004-03-27T08:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I want an Iron Man film, damn it. Or a good F4 or Captain America movie to forget the horrible ones that’re already out there. [Iron Man](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808404573) - November 2005 [Fantastic Four](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403967) = July 5, 2005 No word on Captain America yet. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/10 "2004-03-27T16:14:54Z")
> [@TOTBP](#): > > These films, if done well, could actually make some of these characters “cool” for once. **Blade** , for example, was virtually unknown to the general populace before his film debut. Now, he’s probably more recognizable to non-comics readers than some of the true comic icons. (I just don’t understand why Marvel hasn’t put out a new Blade series yet. Maybe they’re waiting until after _Blade: Trinity_.) Marvel has tried a new Blade series after each movie so far. Both failed. I know I didn’t buy them, but enjoyed the movies. I suppose the audience for the movies aren’t the same audience for the comics, and in fact, may not even realize it’s based on a comic (if they don’t watch credits very closely.) ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/11 "2004-03-27T19:27:43Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > Marvel has tried a new Blade series after each movie so far. Both failed. I know I didn’t buy them, but enjoyed the movies. I suppose the audience for the movies aren’t the same audience for the comics, and in fact, may not even realize it’s based on a comic (if they don’t watch credits very closely.) Really? I didn’t know that. Of course, there are no comic book shops where I live, so we probably wouldn’t have gotten a Blade series, what with Marvel’s comic shop/magazine shop segregation of books. (Those bastards!) I’m surprised I don’t recall reading about those Blade series in _Wizard_, though. (It’s the only comic/magazine I collect.) Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/12 "2004-03-27T20:18:44Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > [Iron Man](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808404573) - November 2005 > [Fantastic Four](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403967) = July 5, 2005 > > No word on Captain America yet. Holy crap, that’s awesome. I didn’t expect to actually get them so to know we are is great. They’re making a Thor movie at some point too, aren’t they? Considering our user names, I expect them to sell at least two tickets. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/13 "2004-03-27T21:31:36Z")
Sweet Christmas! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/14 "2004-03-27T22:40:38Z")
I always thought Luke Cage could benefit from a dark storyline where some criminal mastermind gets it in his head to kill off Cage no matter what… effectively testing the limits of Cage’s invulnerability and exploring the character’s “unkillable” potential. I have an unfinished 4-issue script proposal tucked away somewhere where I took a stab at writing something like that… basically, a girl slips Cage a roofie in his drink at a club. He wakes up chained the bottom of a Olympic-sized pool that belongs to a drug dealer who has a mad-on for Cage because of some previous encounter. Cage is tortured by the dealer’s crew over a few days in a variety of noxious ways… and he doesn’t die. Fed up, the drug dealer has the pool filled in. The last we see of Cage, he’s laughing defiantly as two cement-mixers bury him under tons of concrete. That’s issue #1. If you want to hear the rest of it, get Marvel Comics to buy my proposal. Not that this plot-dropping hijack has ANYTHING to do with the movie… I just hope we see some treatment of Cage that goes beyond him being merely a bulletproof badass. I’m a bit stuck figuring out who could PLAY Cage, tho… he’s so quintessentially blaxploitation era and mid-70’s music fixed in my mind that I can’t figure out what actor or rapper or pro athlete provides an adequate translation. If only Ving Rhames was twenty years younger. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/15 "2004-03-27T22:43:54Z")
Depending on your definition of pro athlete and how much acting ability you want for the role, WWE’s Booker T would be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/16 "2004-03-27T22:52:39Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > I always thought Luke Cage could benefit from a dark storyline where some criminal mastermind gets it in his head to kill off Cage no matter what… effectively testing the limits of Cage’s invulnerability and exploring the character’s “unkillable” potential. Cage is very killable unless they’ve amped up his powers lately. He has to breathe, eat and sleep. In one of the newer Heroes For Hire, I think he gets a lungful of poison gas and goes down for the count…I think they use an 'industrial" laser to pierce his skin and I believe armour piercing bullets would do exactly that. So while he was a great 70’s-80’s character, unless they amp up his invulnerability, any street thug with a high powered rifle and the right ammo can end his existence in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/17 "2004-03-27T23:22:13Z")
**Aesiron:** [http://wrestle.ru/photo/bookert/images/01.jpg](http://wrestle.ru/photo/bookert/images/01.jpg) Booker T? Definitely has the right body build, if not necessarily the right “look” for the character. And from what I remember of Booker T – he’s not quite the level of range in acting I’d like in a movie treatment of the character. I mean, geez, he, Shaq and Tiny Lister, Jr. are pretty much interchangeable. **holmes:** So… Cage is merely knocked unconscious by poison gas and it takes an industrial-strength laser just to pierce his outer skin. Might it not be dubious whether armor-piercing bullets could seriously hurt him at all? Maybe instead of penetrating through to his vital organs, his skin would absorb their impact and get stuck in his chest like slugs in bullet-proof vests. Interestingly, this might necessitate his needing to pull out bullets from time to time… It would make a better visual than “bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest”. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/18 "2004-03-28T00:38:06Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Aesiron:** > **holmes:** So… Cage is merely knocked unconscious by poison gas and it takes an industrial-strength laser just to pierce his outer skin. Might it not be dubious whether armor-piercing bullets could seriously hurt him at all? Maybe instead of penetrating through to his vital organs, his skin would absorb their impact and get stuck in his chest like slugs in bullet-proof vests. Interestingly, this might necessitate his needing to pull out bullets from time to time… It would make a better visual than “bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest”. Sorry I wasn’t clear. I remember that it was because of the effects of the gas, that the operation was necessary. I’m not sure if Iron Fist was effected too, but I remember that surgery was necessary to repair the damage caused by the gas. They were dying…but yes, a heavy duty laser was needed to open him up. As far as the armour piercing ammo, goes, I think he was fighting War “something or other”, who was the first test subject of the experiment that gave Cage his steel hard skin. This guy ended up with skin has tough as concrete and even had a grey complexion. Anyway, he was unloading armor piercers and Cage was “concerned”…I believe he even wore a bullet-proof vest which they did penetrate and the shells still “hurt”. Is Cage tough…? Sure, but he ain’t no Kal-el. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/19 "2004-03-28T01:23:59Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Aesiron:** [Домен wrestle.ru: купить в магазине доменных имен REG.RU](http://wrestle.ru/photo/bookert/images/01.jpg) > > Booker T? Definitely has the right body build, if not necessarily the right “look” for the character. And from what I remember of Booker T – he’s not quite the level of range in acting I’d like in a movie treatment of the character. I mean, geez, he, Shaq and Tiny Lister, Jr. are pretty much interchangeable. Well, I **did** preface my statement by saying it would be dependent on how much acting skill you wanted for the part. He still has the look though. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179/20 "2004-03-28T01:37:20Z")
**Aesiron:** We’re basically in agreement. Booker T is a good choice as long as no real acting range or lengthy dramatic dialogue is required of him. But give him a good chunk of dialogue and ask for a Denzel Washington-type delivery, a la “Training Day,” and we’re talking COM-O’- DEE. \*\*holmes:\*\*Oh. Really? Crap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luke-cage-power-man/236179.md?page=2)