The Marvel universe is a big place! From the films to the movies there is a lot to take in, especially if you are like me and also read comic books on a weekly basis. Hell, I finally got around to catching Civil War yesterday because my schedule is atrocious. While I had some downtime this afternoon I threw on Luke Cage (I missed all of Jessica Jones and season 2 of Daredevil) and was blown away with the package.
“Luke Cage is building something big, even if this episode is slow to get going.”
The most amazing thing about this first episode of Luke Cage is in how it handles the hero. It’s not until the last few minutes of the episode that we see him take any action against injustice. Sure, there are some small hints for those wondering about what Luke Cage does, but other than the overt show of strength lifting a washer, what he can do is downplayed.
This is because ‘Moment of Truth’ is literarly building to the final moment; That final build up inside Cage that comes out like a runaway freight-train. Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker spends the majority of the episode building a world, and one that is probably foreign to most people. It’s a veritable breakdown of black history with historical nobs to the various people involved with Harlem Renaissance and beyond.
But instead of the stereotypical look on the Harlem of today (or what Hollywood thinks it it) we see a wealth of culture and influence. Luke Cage himself is far removed from his original design and concept and even much of the world around him. Gone is the ‘jive talk’ oft associated with the character as well as his bombastic personality. Instead, we get a tortured man, both physically and mentally .
Luke Cage’s powers easily place him among the strongest metahumans in the Marvel cinematic/television universe. His powers make him invulnerable to all forms of physical damage. While we don’t know the full extent of his powers here, it’s safe to say he could take out most of the Avengers. But Luke Cage has always been far more than his powers, and this series looks to be focusing on internal struggles more than anything.
The expanded cast the the show introduces are also really strong and fun to watch. The show is concerned with street level crime, sure, but the stakes are much higher as Marvel is involved. The bulk of the story revolves around a shipment of weapons (from Hammer Industries of all things) that goes to hell after an employee of the main villain decides to make a quick buck and take it all for himself and his lackey.
Cage seems secondary throughout this, and he is, only tied tangentially to the lackey as he knows him from the place he works at. In fact, Cage technically knows both of them from both of the jobs he works which does feel a little too convenient. There is also a love story/one night stand thrown at Cage for some reason. It turns out the woman Cage beds is a detective working to bring down the baddie, but is seems a little forced into the episode.
‘Moment of Truth’ is a weird episode as it is doing so much, but what work best is the style it exudes. The color palette used is simply stunning, with warm tones of orange popping out to great effect and the musical choices throughout are splendid. It’s a gorgeous looking and sounding show which is more than enough for me to recommended it. While it’ll feel too slow for Marvel know-it-all’s, the average viewer will appreciate its world and character building instead of being all about the powers.
And as this is a Marvel property we get a lot of nods to other parts of the Marvel Universe. The Avengers are brought up by a street vendor selling DVD’s (and Blu-Ray’s because it’s not 2005) and we get a mention of Dr. Doom’s Latveria surrounding a player that was drafted into the NBA from there. There are other little touches too, like the mention of Power Man (Cage’s classic superhero name) but most importantly is the revelation that Diamodnback will be the series main kingpin. Oh, and Fisk is mentioned too after all that happened to him in Daredevil.
“You have my word, ma’am, I’ve got you.”
Luke Cage is building something big, even if this episode is slow to get going. I know my Luke Cage history, but I respect what they are trying to do to bring in new fans from all walks of life. Luke Cage isn’t a top tier character in terms of popularity, so I think ‘Moment of Truth’ was a great start. But even with my reservations and issues, the episode manages to stick with you long after it’s over. Many scenes are shot to be memorable (the Biggie artwork and allusion of being king was beautiful) and I can easily recall a great many of them.
I sat and watched this episode one with someone who isn’t well versed in Marvel characters aside from the main Avengers, and what they really enjoyed was how the episode played out. What Luke Cage can do was never brought up as a question to me, rather they asked about the characters, world, and how it all fits together.
The episode ends with Cage finally starting to become the hero we know he is. After saving a restaurant from people looking for protection money, the owner try to hire Cage, a callback to his Hero for Hire days, but he turns them down instead choosing to do it for free saying, “You have my word, ma’am, I’ve got you.” He then tosses the yellow-lined hoodie over his head and walks off. I’m not quite sure how the rest of the season will develop, but Luke Cage has my damn attention.
4/5
‘Great’
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