Luke Cage’s Second Season Was Awesome

Thus far, no Marvel series has had a better second season than the first season.  Daredevil’s second season started strong but then kind of unraveled as the season moved along and the exciting Punisher storyline was replaced with the less interesting “thousands of ninjas” story.  Jessica Jones had a strong second season but, absent the incredible presence of David Tennant, was fated to never quite reach the same dramatic heights of the first season.  Then along comes Luke Cage and, for the first time, we see a series that builds on the first season’s foundations into a fantastic new story.  If you haven’t binged Luke Cage yet, you’ve been missing out.

I think Mariah is one of my favorite supervillains now.

More than any series thus far, Luke Cage does a terrific job developing two interesting villains.  Bushmaster, alone, is the best new villain since David Tennant’s Kilgrave in Jessica Jones.  He’s fierce, he’s got a fantastic backstory, and his motives actually make sense.  He has plenty of reasons to hate both Luke Cage and Mariah.  Mariah, too, evolves from being somewhat dark and conniving into something truly evil.  Her descent is understandable; she sees very little value in half-measures and learns that she has to be ruthless to survive.  She’s such an odious and sinister presence by the end of the show that she’s absolutely magnetic; you love to hate her in a way Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor can only aspire towards (love that actor, hate that Lex Luthor).  Heck, even Shades develops an unusual depth as his loyalties shift throughout the season.  Misty Knight is a little less interesting this season as the constant force for good in a world of grey, but she is every bit as heroic as Luke is during the season.

Misty gets to punch a lot of people this season.

The best part of Luke Cage’s second season, however, may be the ending.  By the end of the series, Luke Cage seems to have evolved into a king of Harlem.  He hints at this quite a bit throughout the season (“Harlem needs a King,” he frequently repeats) but his ascension raises a lot of questions about whether his character will outshine the corruption of his position.  While the series goes great lengths to invoke The Godfather during these last few scenes, I was more reminded of Angel’s fifth season.  While I enjoyed – more or less – all the seasons of Angel, the last season is far-and-away the best of that series.  In that last season, Angel is given control of the evil law firm he’s battled for four seasons.  Over the course of the final season, he learns that he can’t maintain his integrity while leading an evil agency.  It’s a terrific season, and I’m really hoping Luke Cage aims for something similar.

I dunno, is it too late for you to get back on Game of Thrones?

Luke Cage has a lot of room to maneuver this next season.  While I’m sure Danny Rand will return (sigh), I hope we see more heroes from the Marvel universe stop by.  Daredevil, Jessica, and even the Punisher might find themselves at cross-purposes with a more morally compromised Luke Cage.   But, heck, even if they don’t, I’m pretty convinced this show can stand on its own.  Rather than see Jessica show up here, I’d rather see Bushmaster show up in her show or see a flashback with a Mariah and Daredevil interaction.  Luke Cage has a lot to offer the Marvel universe and I’m up for whatever’s coming next.