Thursday, October 6, 2016

Luke Cage Season One Review with *Live Tweets*

I posted the full review on Instagram, but I'll repost the full review below (hence the hashtags) with a link to the live tweets I did while watching the series with the other diverse folk on Twitter as well. Check it all out below.

THE SHOWRUNNER, THE VIBE
In separate interviews #showrunner #CheoHodariCoker describes the show as "the Wu Tang-ification of the Marvel universe”, as having "a '90s hip-hop vibe." and ""The Wire of Marvel television" I can say all statements are absolutely TRUE! 


I'll throw in a badass #blaxpoitation vibe too! Lots of time when Cage takes a "Step in the Arena" (the #Gangstarr inspired title of episode 4) you can hear Cage's #leitmotif (theme song) and you know some ass-kicking is coming! 


This show not only OOZES in #BlackCulture and #BlackHistory it's also #UnapologeticallyBlack ✊🏾The characters talk how black people talk and act like black people act. The nuances of black culture and black life are EVERYWHERE in this show. The literary 📚references/discussions📚 alone are rooted in black history/culture. 


#MikeColter is a great solid Luke Cage. He plays Cage as the strong, silent type. He's strong and silent, but can definitely be smooth when it comes to the ladies.👌🏾He really just wants to lay low, but the love of his people, his community forces him into action. For those that don't know Luke Cage has unbreakable skin and super strength so yeah he does some superhero type shit, but it's all grounded in reality—a black reality—in a black Harlem. 

HARLEMWORLD
I joked that this show could be called "Harlem featuring Luke Cage" because that's how much of a character Harlem is. As @djolder said on Twitter "one thing #LukeCage did in the span of a single episode that neither DareDevil nor Jessica Jones managed was create a sense of community" Harlem and its residents are a real vibrant part of the series and remains so the entire season. Most of the villains on the show love Harlem first and foremost. 

OH THE VILLAINY 
Speaking of villains, like the other Marvel/Netflix shows, the villains are about the best thing on the show, from #MariahDillard to #Cottonmouth to #Shades, they all BRING IT! Their portrayers #AlfreWoodard, #MahershalaAli and #TheoRossi consistently kill it! 

THE WOMEN OF LUKE CAGE
 #ClaireTemple re-emerges in this series and has A LOT to do and #RosarioDawson continues to do it well! #MistyKnight (played by the fantastic #SimoneMissick) who spawned the #MistySoLit hashtag before the show even premiered is a HUGE part of the show. Shit, the show could also be called "Luke Cage & Misty Knight" LOL. She's definitely the standout she was predicted to be. Actually the show has SEVERAL female characters that make an impact, not just hanging around. They affect the story. 

IN THE END
I think this season is gonna become a hood pop culture classic, in other words—a hit in these streets. That's the true way to reach the culture. Much like 'Scarface' (1983) some of the characters in Luke Cage are energetic, bombastic and audacious—which also make them great and memorable. As #PopCulture critic JOHN POWERS said "If there's any quality that makes a piece of pop culture last, it's energy." All I kept thinking watching Luke Cage was "the streets gonna love❤️this!" And with all the Black History drops that's exactly how it's supposed to be. Marvel/Netflix has another distinct hit on their hands and this time it's also #ForTheCulture 👊🏾###

I also •LIVE•TWEETED• the season @notherbrother on Twitter. You can check out the thread starting with the tweet below. 

RELATED 
The biography wirtten by Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker 
Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. - Cool Black Review

Marvel's Luke Cage is the most popular digital series in the US

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