Luke Cage Season 2

© by Gerald So | 7:00 AM

Season 2 of Marvel's Luke Cage premiered on Netflix two days ago, with Cage facing continued opposition from Mariah Dillard and Shades as well as new, herbally-enhanced Jamaican villain John McIver (Mustafa Shakir).

After The Defenders, I hoped to see more interaction among the characters on all four Marvel shows, and Luke Cage does a better job of that than Jessica Jones, featuring Colleen Wing, Foggy Nelson, and Danny Rand. Cage also may do the best job of showing villains' perspective as the events of Season 2 shake both Luke and Shades.

That said, for all their soul-searching, the characters don't change in the directions I thought they would. I understand the idea of showing Luke as flawed, but heroes are heroes because innate parts of their personalities are geared toward doing good. In The Defenders Luke seemed the most mature and practical, indeed a defender, not an attacker. Where did that go?

Looking back, I had the same issue with Luke Cage Season 1.