Luke Cage

So I'm a bit of a nerd in that I like what most people deem "nerdy things".  One of the things on that list would be superheroes, more accurately, comic book superheroes.  It's a form of escapism I've indulged in for many years.  But now, superheroes and comic books are more socially and commercially accepted as ever.  To me, that's good and bad...good because it makes it less "nerdy" and also because when you get smart directors and actors behind the right project, it can take the genre to a whole new level.  Then there's the bad, as it becomes more socially acceptable, you can have any hack make a show or movie, slap a good actor on it, and make some straight up trash (I'm looking at you Batman vs. Superman).  We have definitely had some missteps but I still love and appreciate the genre.  Enter Luke Cage...a follow up to the highly successful "Daredevil" series on Netflix and less successful but still good "Jessica Jones" series.  They were both excellent with Daredevil taking the lead because he has more of a richer character and lends himself better to television visually.  Simply put...he's a kung fu, fight choreography, visually stimulating character while Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are just strong, punch characters.  Jessica Jones played better because she was a beautiful woman (that always helps), a detective, and not so obvious about what she could do.  It made her interesting...at least to me.  Now I enjoyed Luke Cage...the Harlem experience...the various musical performances...the African American perspectives...all of it, but the superhero part was just meh.  No smooth fight scenes, no intriguing detective work, no visually stunning superhero stuff...just bulletproof, strong guy stuff over and over again.  And he was so up and down with his commitment...it got a little irritating after a while but I get it.

But don't get me wrong, I'm still a nerd and it was still a superhero show so I gave it a lot of grace.  I appreciated the throwback outfit and people calling him, "Power Man".  Only a true superhero nerd would pick up on those things and that's the stuff we (superhero fans) really appreciate.  Staying true to a character is what makes this genre truly excellent. They didn't have a lot to work with with this particular character but I appreciated the effort.  Netflix seems to be a good venue for a lot of the minor characters in Marvel.  This won't happen with DC because if it's not Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman then no one is interested (Shout out to Arrow but only a shout out).  I recommend watching it but if you haven't seen Daredevil or Jessica Drew, watched those first.