Luke Cage Season 1 Impressions

I've continued to soldier on through the Marvel Netflix series. Next up was Luke Cage season 1. This really feels like two different series. There is a dramatic drop in quality as the season progresses. The first half of the series is your standard character intro and establish a bad guy. The second half delved more into his backstory and established what looks to be the main nemeses for the foreseeable future. It's amazing to me how stark the contrast is between the first and the second halves of the season, both in terms of tone and quality.

Spoilers ahead.

I had already been introduced to Luke Cage in Jessica Jones season 1, so I wasn't starting completely from scratch, but that was pretty much all I knew about this character. I never really read any of his comics, but he and Iron Fist were on the lunch box I used in elementary school. That's pretty much the extent of my knowledge about Luke Cage aka Power Man.

The thing that really stuck out to me about the series was the villains. For the first half of the Season, Luke's just getting used to the idea that with all these powers it's kind of his responsibility to step up and take on the bad guys. Cottonmouth makes a pretty good foe for him in the beginning, since he's new to the hero game. Cottonmouth isn't really that smart or powerful, but he is well-connected. This makes him a good adversary for a new hero.

You need some of those disposable guys so that the hero can find their feet. With Spider-Man it was the Sinister Six, with Daredevil it was Stilt Man, The Owl, etc. Bad guys that are not really a match for the hero, but it lets the hero flex a bit and establishes what they do. In professional wrestling these guys are called jobbers.

Cottonmouth is the consummate jobber. He's found himself in a position of power but doesn't have the will, the intelligence, or the means to hold on to it. From the very beginning, they made it clear that he was on his way out of the series in one way or another by teasing Diamondback repeatedly.

So when Cottonmouth was out, and Diamondback tagged in, the level of anticipation was high. That's what makes Diamondback such a let-down. He ends up being just another jobber. A more eccentric jobber, yes, but more compelling? Decidedly not. I have to assume that the whole blaxploitation vibe he puts off was on purpose. It's too overt not to be. But it's just so poorly done. The quoting the Bible, the brother angle, the using a lesser version of Luke's powers against him; it's all just so derivative. When you are a worse villain than Cottonmouth, that's saying something.

And then there's Shades. He makes a pretty good transition from a weasely henchman to actually running some behind the scenes stuff, complete with betrayals and leading others farther down the wrong path. But again, he's just kind of an amped up version of Cottonmouth.

All this leads me to my real point. The main villain of this series is not Diamondback. The real star of the darkside here is Mariah Dillard. She has no powers, but she knows how to use politics and manipulate the will of the people to get what she wants. This was a really good choice by the writers of the series. You can always find someone stronger, faster, more invulnerable, etc. But if you really want to cause a problem for a hero, give them a nemesis who their power has no effect on. Mariah is never going to try to shoot Luke, and Luke is never going to punch Mariah. He's effectively negated. That's what an arch-villain should be.

Other than my issues with the structure of the villains and the roles they play, the series itself is pretty enjoyable. It does a good job of establishing Luke as the people's hero. Includes some good cameos (Method Man!) and callbacks to the comics. For example, the ridiculous outfit that he's wearing when he escapes from Seagate prison. The shackles on his wrists, his metal head piece, and a yellow shirt. That could only come out of 70's comics.

I also did think the romance side was a little too played up. Jessica Jones season 1 did a good job of introducing some conflicts for Luke and some questions surrounding the death of his wife. Throughout the course of this season though, we learn that his wife wasn't necessarily the saint he made her out to be. I have trouble believing this was the writer's plan from the beginning, and it feels a bit more like a convenient way for him to get together with Rosario Dawson.

Overall it was not as good as Daredevil, but was enjoyable and fits into the Netflix Marvel Universe nicely. I just really hope they drop Diamondback and focus on Mariah in season 2.

Next up will be Iron Fist season 1. I don't hear positive things, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.