Luke Cage: Tired of Buying New Clothes (Spoiler Thread)

[The Anti-Targ]

Still not finished, so can't go strolling through the thread looking for answers. Can someone please tell me if

Spoiler

managing to get anything though his skin barrier

is comic book canon?

also

Spoiler

Given he lived through a special bullet exploding inside him, clearly all his tissues have a serious robustness and since Luke couldn't push a scalpel through his dermis that presents a bit of a problem for being able to get a needle through is eye.

And clearly, if they weren't forced to escape the...vet surgery?... and Claire was looking for an eye-hole equivalent to getting access to the abdomen, she would have had to go through his arse, since that is actually an opening.

 

[HexMachina]

12 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Still not finished, so can't go strolling through the thread looking for answers. Can someone please tell me if

  Hide contents

managing to get anything though his skin barrier

is comic book canon?

also

  Hide contents

Given he lived through a special bullet exploding inside him, clearly all his tissues have a serious robustness and since Luke couldn't push a scalpel through his dermis that presents a bit of a problem for being able to get a needle through is eye.

And clearly, if they weren't forced to escape the...vet surgery?... and Claire was looking for an eye-hole equivalent to getting access to the abdomen, she would have had to go through his arse, since that is actually an opening.

 

I'm fairly sure it was a women's clinic he was being treated at

[The Anti-Targ]

10 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

 

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I'm fairly sure it was a women's clinic he was being treated at

 

 

Spoiler

Or a morgue. Because no one uses those scalpels on live patients, they are strictly for autopsies. For live surgical purposes from which the patient is expected to recover doctors and vets always use single use disposable blades.

 

[polishgenius]

38 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Given he lived through a special bullet exploding inside him, clearly all his tissues have a serious robustness and since Luke couldn't push a scalpel through his dermis that presents a bit of a problem for being able to get a needle through is eye.

And clearly, if they weren't forced to escape the...vet surgery?... and Claire was looking for an eye-hole equivalent to getting access to the abdomen, she would have had to go through his arse, since that is actually an opening.

 

 

I think some of this is simply the pretty common issue of a character being more powerful in their own title than when they're guesting. Just something you have to deal with in comic books and derivative stories.
 

 

like, it's not just the skin thing being switched up a bit apparently- the Jessica Jones version of Luke Cage wouldn't need Judas bullets to deal with him- a high-powered sniper shot to the head from medium range would surely concuss him just as well as the shotgun did.

That was one of the disappointments I did have actually- kryptonite weaknesses are always contrived and should be avoided where possible, and having Mariah list a bunch of more natural ways to harm him only to immediately have Cottonmouth go 'nope, got a magic bullet' just highlighted that awkwardness.
Contrast to both the JJ version of Luke and Daredevil S2 which both used their powers as a weakness in a natural way to give them a bit extra to deal with.

 

Further thoughts, spoilers for all eps:

 

Another disappointment, thinking back on it: the police are either really crippled in powers or have really fucked up priorities. Someone blows up a residential block with an RPG and there's almost no response. Someone openly murders the key witness in a case against a hugely high-profile suspect and the response is 'oh shit, there goes the case' rather than tearing the town apart to find out what happened. Hell, someone punched his way out of prison and disappeared and yet no effort appears to have been made to recapture him ('Reva helped you vanish' doesn't wash- there should still have been notices out for Carl Lucas).

They're not this tame just down the road in Hell's Kitchen. Most of the time.

[DaveSumm]

12 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

 

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...and having Mariah list a bunch of more natural ways to harm him only to immediately have Cottonmouth go 'nope, got a magic bullet' just highlighted that awkwardness.

Spoiler

Oh God, I'd totally forgotten about that.......that was such a great scene cos I was like 'shit, yea, I hadn't thought of that, these are very plausible weaknesses he could very well have'. Then.......nothing. Real wasted opportunity.

 

[Werthead]

Quote

Still excited for Defenders (will we get a JJ2 before that? A LC2?) but easily the weakest of the 3 so far for me.

It all seems to be a bit confused because the original deal between Netflix and Marvel was for five series, airing no more than two seasons per year, but The Punisher was added after-the-fact and now doesn't seem to be part of that limitation.

In terms of filming, Iron Fist S1 is finishing up now and both The Defenders and The Punisher S1 are in simultaneous pre-production. As soon as The Defenders finishes shooting, they roll straight into production of Jessica Jones S2, and then Daredevil S3 after that.

Based on that, the way forwards is most likely:

Iron Fist - March 2017

Defenders - September 2017

The Punisher - November 2017

Jessica Jones - March 2018

Daredevil - September 2018

I've got a feeling we won't see second seasons of either Luke Cage or Iron Fist, but they'll roll them both into a Heroes for Hire crossover or even combine them with Jessica Jones.

Daredevil and (to a lesser extent) The Punisher seem to have multi-year legs to them but I'm not sure about the rest, and certainly not with the two shows-per-year limitation. Either they have to lift that or make the other shows limited runs.

[Bastard of Boston]

I think many people who hate this show are not the people it was meant for. You can interpret that as a cop out, if you want -- in some instances, it's a convenient excuse..."You don't like it because you weren't meant to." I get that, but the excuse especially applies here. This is all about representation and giving a very specific audience something they can love and characters they can root for, all while being based in the world of the MCU. That's powerful, IMO. I hate some of the reviews I've seen. The NY Times even indicated Cage is better served as a supporting character in Jessica Jones...wtf? I hope this show is the biggest hit Marvel has because I want to see it succeed -- I know it has, already, but still. Seeing the way women are portrayed here makes me sad we'll never see Storm written from this lens.

[polishgenius]

11 minutes ago, Bastard of Boston said:

I think many people who hate this show are not the people it was meant for. You can interpret that as a cop out, if you want -- in some instances, it's a convenient excuse..."You don't like it because you weren't meant to." I get that, but the excuse especially applies here. This is all about representation and giving a very specific audience something they can love and characters they can root for, all while being based in the world of the MCU. That's powerful, IMO. I hate some of the reviews I've seen. The NY Times even indicated Cage is better served as a supporting character in Jessica Jones...wtf? I hope this show is the biggest hit Marvel has because I want to see it succeed -- I know it has, already, but still. Seeing the way women are portrayed here makes me sad we'll never see Storm written from this lens.

 

I haven't read too many reviews for this, but I haven't seen many complaints or negative reviews of it that centered around anything other than the technical storytelling aspects (be it acting or plot holes or whatever). That's got nothing to do with who it represents. It can do those things better and still be a forward-moving piece of cultural impact.

And the ones that I have seem to be discussions of whether it's that good a representation of who and what it's representing at all, so... I'm not really sure if 'you didn't like it coz it wasn't for you' really flies at all.

*Just to make clear: I, personally, did like it. Albeit marginally less than the other Marflix shows so far, I think.

[Jace, Extat]

Finishing episode 2, feeling a little misty eyed.

[Kalbear]

I've seen a number of reviews indicating what BoB said. 

I wish I could get into it more. There are aspects of it I absolutely adore and I think the cast is tremendous. There are parts that I don't get, and that's good too - it is not coddling me or explaining, and instead I get to be an observer into a world that isn't mine, and that works.

But some of the plotting and pacing...ugh. I'm on ep 7, and it is just atrocious - even for a show meant to be binge-watched. The worst example I can think of so far:

Spoiler

Dillard and Coltrane's back store with Mabel. Putting this in the same episode as where we see that she was abused AND where shades says she can do something about it AND where we see Coltrane being upset that he wasn't able to go off and do music? The actual scene of Dillard fucking Cottonmouth up was one of the best things I've ever seen on all levels, but the setup to get there was clumsy and stupid. 

 

[Commodore]

2 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I keep meaning to post about this show (a-fucking-mazing) but haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts.  The one thing I knew was that Commodore was going to find a way to bash anything to do with the black experience.  Never fails to deliver. 

I'm only through episode 7 but have quite enjoyed it so far, and I typically avoid all superhero stuff.

Something appealing about Cage's stoicism. 

Just thought the article was an interesting/provocative criticism of the show's take on the black experience. The author seemed to be expecting a BLM storyline with the cops as the main bad guy, and this isn't that. 

[Spockydog]

2 hours ago, polishgenius said:

 

I could see how one might have issues with the rest of the stuff you listed, even though I wouldn't go anywhere near awful on any of them except the unimpressive Diamondback, but I'll fight you over this one.

Diamondback ruined every scene he was in. He was so absurd and over the top, it was impossible to take him seriously. I've had enough of tedious blowhards for one year, than you very much.

2 hours ago, mormont said:

Yeah, if you can watch Simone Missick, Alfre Woodard and Mahershala Ali and say 'that was awful' you need to recalibrate your idea of what acting is.

Ron Cephas Jones is due some credit too. Really enjoyed him as Bobby Fish.

Fair enough. Those guys, whilst no less guilty of scenery-chewing than the rest of the ensemble, deserve some credit. Along with Rosario Dawson, they were pretty good. But, damn, that Mike Colter is bad. He's so wooden, he makes Henry Cavill look like Laurence Olivier.

 

[Zorral]

Got up through ep 9 -- and stalled out.  That was way back and I'm still stalled out.

Evidently really and truly this show isn't for me whomever the show is for, which people above said -- if it's not for you forget about it.

I loved the show up to eps 7 8 and 9 -- and then, well, basically lost interest because it seems to have gone total comix.  So yah, it's not for me coz I don't dare for comix.

 

[Astromech]

Well damn. I'm up to episode 7 and am now reading posts about how it's downhill afterwards. I am watching an episode per evening and find myself tuning out a bit. Episode 7 was terrible for reasons others have expressed, and in addition . . .

Spoiler

the show killed off one of the only interesting characters. Ali was excellent as Cottonmouth. In addition he became a complete joke in that final episode. He had Luke against the ropes knowing his past and nothing comes of it because Diamondback wouldn't like it. I'm not familiar with Cottonmouth in the comics, but his backstory was "I coulda been a pianist"? WTF? And he is finally killed by Mariah, the most laughable character in the show. You would think that large window looking onto his club would be a bit stronger, if not bulletproof.

I'm not feeling any tension either. Even after the Judas bullet I'm not feeling Luke is in any danger. I've mentioned it before in regards to the villains in the other Marvel Netflix shows. Luke Cage just doesn't have a villain who is fairly matched with him. I'm not holding my breath for Diamondback. DD had Fisk, the Black Hand and even the Punisher. JJ has Kilgrave. LC has  . . .  Mariah, Cottonmouth and Shades. Snooze.

The acting is fine, namely Ali. The writing is what is poor in parts. Dialogue reaches George Lucas levels at times. Ok, that was maybe a  bit too harsh. It's a bit too heavy handed at times with the cultural references and the messages. I've met people during the Iowa Caucus who name dropped less than people in this show. I'm expecting to see Keenan Ivory Wayans popping up in scenes yelling "Message!". The worst example of this so far has been the scene with Dapper Dan. That was completely unnecessary, especially considering Luke ruined the suit by taking bullets before the funeral.

Whereas DD and JJ feel a bit more graphic novel, Luke Cage does feel comic booky.

 

 

[RedEyedGhost]

I wish Ali had played Diamondback, and that other fool could have been Cottonmouth.  Harvey is much more age appropriate with Woodard and Faison (and Colter and Ali being much more age appropriate too).  They could have then killed Cottonmouth like two episodes earlier, and given Ali as Diamondback a much better showcase to finish the season.

[Martini Sigil]

19 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

I wish Ali had played Diamondback, and that other fool could have been Cottonmouth.  Harvey is much more age appropriate with Woodard and Faison (and Colter and Ali being much more age appropriate too).  They could have then killed Cottonmouth like two episodes earlier, and given Ali as Diamondback a much better showcase to finish the season.

I completely agree that Mahershala Ali is by far a better actor than Erik LaRay Harvey ... and that it would have been nice if their roles were reversed, because we'd potentially get to see Ali again...  I think the complaints about the acting is because Harvey, and Theo Rossi just didn't have the chops to hang with the rest of the cast, who were fantastic.

[mormont]

I've heard this before, but frankly, it's anybody's guess whether Ali's Diamondback would be better than Harvey's: it would almost certainly be worse than Ali's Cottonmouth.

I maintain Harvey did a decent job with a more limited role: the larger problem is that Diamondback simply isn't as interesting or well written a character.

[Kalbear]

I also think that the pacing could have paid off well for Diamondback if they had worked something into it a bit better. Just like having Cottonmouth's background story earlier on would have paid dividends later, having who Diamondback was interact earlier with Cage and then reveal who he was would have been a significantly better impact. 

[polishgenius]

11 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

I also think that the pacing could have paid off well for Diamondback if they had worked something into it a bit better. Just like having Cottonmouth's background story earlier on would have paid dividends later, having who Diamondback was interact earlier with Cage and then reveal who he was would have been a significantly better impact. 

 

The show had a real problem with backstories and flashbacks in general. Had no sense on when to do it, so it just shoved them in just before they became directly relevant. Really  poor work on that particular score.

Like, for me, simply moving the boxing scene between Willis and Carl from the beginning of the final episode to the beginning of the first one would have been a huge first step to fixing a lot of that problem.

I don't think we needed to see Diamondback interact directly with Cage, but we should have seen him earlier, behaving like the smooth, competent operator he must have been to get to where he is, so that when he realises that Carl is back and goes crazy we actually see the break, rather than just being introduced to this untrustworthy psycho as is.

[Dolorous Gabe]

Just finished it. I enjoyed it for many reasons but it had many more issues than JJ and DD in my opinion.

It seemed to do certain things very well but other things not-so-well, which made for a strange mix of the good and the bad.

It was definitely best in the first half.