If you’re familiar with Hero for Hire, the 1972 Marvel comic book from which Luke Cage adapts its titular hero, then you know the character never wore a hoodie reminiscent of Trayvon Martin. Instead, the superhero sometimes known as “Power Man” dressed in a bright yellow shirt and jeans, held his pants up with a length of chain, and donned metal bracelets and a tiara. No, really, that’s what Luke Cage used to look like.
While ardent comic book fans love these “classic” looks, neither Mike Colter nor Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker were going to subject the character (or themselves) to its fashion faux pas. For those of you who’ve watched at least the first four episodes of Luke Cage on Netflix, however, you already know Colter pulls it off in an amazingly logical — but nonetheless silly — manner after escaping Seagate Prison. As Colter explained to the Hollywood Reporter:
“We commented on the original costume, we poked fun at it and we also owned what it was,” Colter says. “It was all what we needed to do. We wanted to see it but we needed to do it in a way that seemed organic but also made it seem like we were in on the joke. Like, ‘Hey guys, we’re just doing it because we know what you want.’ That’s what’s great about it.”
“It was a slow release, pieces of information, and then you see it coming from a mile away,” he continued. Sure, “it’s a hilarious costume” that doesn’t really belong in the modern world Luke Cage inhabits, but when Colter wears it for a few brief moments on screen, “it’s still satisfying.”
Frankly, he’s right. There’s absolutely no way Cage’s updated character and story line would ever allow such a thing to happen in 2016. Had Marvel adapted the character in the late ’70s, maybe, but today? Not a chance. But when Cage steals the items from a home’s clothesline, stares at his reflection, and calls himself a “damn fool,” you know you were cheering.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
