Luke Cage (More Hallway Fights on Netflix!)

[Fievel]

I'm surprised that a thread wasn't already started for this.

I just finished Luke Cage's first season. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Some thoughts:

-The tone for this show was all over the place. At times it felt like an honest love letter to the blaxploitation films of the 70's - including intentionally bad dialogue. I kept waiting for someone to be called a jive turkey. But other times it felt like it was trying to take itself a little more seriously. In that case, the bad dialogue came across as just that - shitty writing. I just wish it felt more consistent.

- I think this is the best thing that Rosario Dawson has done recently. I'm not much of a fan of hers (nothing against, just haven't been wowed), so I'm willing to concede that I may have missed some performances. But at times she seemed to outshine the material itself.

- The music was an asset to this show. From the 70's-style themes to the modern hip hop, it just worked.

-Method Man's cameo was cool. Cool because it reminded me of when celebrities would cameo in the comics. Plus, the fact that Luke was just gushing over him was hilarious.

-I'm definitely stoked for The Defenders.

[Fried Gold]

It was okay, but not great.

They seemed to have retooled the character somewhat from that seen in Jessica Jones.

The ode to blaxsploitation seemed misplaced, given how relevant and contemporary nature of the core concept involved.

[Fievel]

They seemed to have retooled the character somewhat from that seen in Jessica Jones.

I think it took me until Claire arrived to understand WHEN this show took place. Until then I thought the whole thing was a prequel to Jessica Jones.

Jessica...Misty....Claire......yeah, I think he's over Reva's death. The Reva story seems like two different characters between the two shows.

[Peven]

with a few episodes left to watch I am really enjoying it, though there are some slow sections that could be tightened up for better pacing.

[Ribbons]

-The tone for this show was all over the place. At times it felt like an honest love letter to the blaxploitation films of the 70's - including intentionally bad dialogue. I kept waiting for someone to be called a jive turkey. But other times it felt like it was trying to take itself a little more seriously. In that case, the bad dialogue came across as just that - shitty writing. I just wish it felt more consistent.

From what I read, they tried to pay homage to the character's origins -- which are pretty rooted in blaxploitation films -- while at the same time trying to filter it through a contemporary black lens.

I haven't watched the show yet, so I can't tell you whether or not it works, but that might explain the tone.

[Peven]

-The tone for this show was all over the place. At times it felt like an honest love letter to the blaxploitation films of the 70's - including intentionally bad dialogue. I kept waiting for someone to be called a jive turkey. But other times it felt like it was trying to take itself a little more seriously. In that case, the bad dialogue came across as just that - shitty writing. I just wish it felt more consistent.

From what I read, they tried to pay homage to the character's origins -- which are pretty rooted in blaxploitation films -- while at the same time trying to filter it through a contemporary black lens.

I haven't watched the show yet, so I can't tell you whether or not it works, but that might explain the tone.

there is definitely a "I'm gonna git you sucka" 70's flavor to it...but it isn't the only flavor

[Ribbons]

I've been steadily making my way through this show. I kind of like it, but I think it's probably the worst of the Marvel/Netflix series so far (although I'd still put it a hair above season 2 of Daredevil). The dialogue is often cringe-worthy, which may be intentional, but cringe-worthy nonetheless. The season feels weirdly paced, too: stretched out but also too short. They could have gotten more mileage out of Cottonmouth's story before his cousin killed him halfway through, and Diamondback should have been saved for another season. I do like the story, though. I think Luke Cage does a better job than Daredevil of showing what it means to actually clean up a neighborhood, and the different forms of corruption that make it difficult. I can also buy why Luke, an ex-convict, would be a reluctant hero, as he struggles to escape his past.

[Bloo]

I liked it more then you guys did it seems like.

How did you guys think it was a prequel? He mentions to Pops in ep 1 the "ex" and points to his head and mimics a shotgun. Clear reference to the end of JJ. There was a bit of retooling, like how did he go from being able to own a bar to not having any money and working two jobs (There's also a reference to him knowing how to tend bar in the first episode that is a clear reference to Jessica Jones), but that comes really from two different showrunners/writers rooms.

I think that is my biggest concern about The Defenders, as excited as I am for it, the Marvel Netflix shows have been given pretty free reign, probably the most creative freedom in the marvel universe, so I'm curious how these different personalities and tones are going to come together. I do think the news that The Defenders will only be 8 episodes will be a boon. Luke Cage really felt like two seasons of 6-7 episodes each.

I was also stunned how much Luke Cage connected to the larger Marvel U then the other Marflix shows have, from the Judas Bullet to Justin Hammer (can we please get more Sam Rockwell Justin Hammer). It makes me wonder who from the Cinemaverse will show up in the Marflix shows; my guess is Jermey Renner (and on that note, I'd love to see a Marflix adaptation of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run).

[Ribbons]

I was also stunned how much Luke Cage connected to the larger Marvel U then the other Marflix shows have, from the Judas Bullet to Justin Hammer (can we please get more Sam Rockwell Justin Hammer). It makes me wonder who from the Cinemaverse will show up in the Marflix shows; my guess is Jermey Renner (and on that note, I'd love to see a Marflix adaptation of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run).

One of the things that I can't believe they didn't mention: the fight at the end of The Incredible Hulk took place in Harlem. I have to imagine the showrunners just had no idea, but somebody somewhere along the line should have told them, considering its relevance to the story. In The Avengers Banner even mentions how he "kind of broke Harlem." Nobody in the neighborhood has any feelings about that?

[Bloo]

I was also stunned how much Luke Cage connected to the larger Marvel U then the other Marflix shows have, from the Judas Bullet to Justin Hammer (can we please get more Sam Rockwell Justin Hammer). It makes me wonder who from the Cinemaverse will show up in the Marflix shows; my guess is Jermey Renner (and on that note, I'd love to see a Marflix adaptation of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run).

One of the things that I can't believe they didn't mention: the fight at the end of The Incredible Hulk took place in Harlem. I have to imagine the showrunners just had no idea, but somebody somewhere along the line should have told them, considering its relevance to the story. In The Avengers Banner even mentions how he "kind of broke Harlem." Nobody in the neighborhood has any feelings about that?

yeah that bugged me too

[Ribbons]

I think that is my biggest concern about The Defenders, as excited as I am for it, the Marvel Netflix shows have been given pretty free reign, probably the most creative freedom in the marvel universe, so I'm curious how these different personalities and tones are going to come together. I do think the news that The Defenders will only be 8 episodes will be a boon. Luke Cage really felt like two seasons of 6-7 episodes each.

As far as this goes, I'm less concerned about how The Defenders is going to work than I would be for a movie team-up, just because they have multiple episodes over which to tie everything together. It almost feels backwards to me that The Defenders is only going to be 8 episodes but all of the standalone series are 13; you'd think it would make more sense to have the team-up season be the long one.

[Maui]

- The music was an asset to this show. From the 70's-style themes to the modern hip hop, it just worked.

The music was the best part of this show. Down the road, I'm not going to remember this show for it's captivating storyline, I am going to remember it for the awesome playlist. I did enjoy the show, but as others have mentioned in this thread, the dialogue is severely lacking.

I was so disappointed when Cottonmouth died. He was such a great character.

On that note, one of the best performances on LC: