We haven’t even seen AKA Jessica Jones make her Netflix premiere yet but with Netflix’s plan to release a new Marvel series every six months they’ll need to get the next one into production soon if they don’t want to miss the mark. Luke Cage may be getting closer as rumors are now swirling about a new villain who will be part of the series. Word is, Cornell Cottonmouth will be squaring off against Luke Cage in his first season.
Heroic Hollywood is reporting the rumor that Cottonmouth will appear on the show. Cottonmouth is a minor character overall and the rumor seems to say that he will be a minor villain here as well. He’s being viewed as “a” villain in the series, not “the” villain. In the comics Cottonmouth is a drug dealer with super strength that rivals that of Cage. He’s also sharpened his teeth to points, gold teeth to be precise. At this point the only roles we know will be on the show will be Cage himself, played by Mike Colter, and Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, so it’s about time we got some new characters.
While this is not confirmed, the presence of Cottonmouth early in the series would make sense as the character is connected to the early part of Luke Cage’s life, and some obvious ties to the existing Marvel universe on television can also be made. In the comics, Luke Cage is framed for drug dealing and sent to prison. It’s while in prison that the character gains his superhuman strength. The drugs came from Cottonmouth, so this could be an indication that they’re keeping this part of Cage’s history intact.
The drugs that were stolen in the comics happened to be heroin. We already have a heroin dealer as part of the Netflix/Marvel world in Daredevil’s Madame Gao. Could Cottonmouth be working for her? It would certainly make sense. We know that the continuity between the Netflix shows is going to be a bit more subtle, without major character crossovers, but seeing the same logo on the packages of heroin would be right in line with that idea. Isn’t speculation fun?
All of this could be thrown out the window early however, since we know that we’ll see Luke Cage before his series starts, as part of the forthcoming AKA Jessica Jones series. We could end up seeing more of Cage’s origin story there for all we know at this point, so even if Cottonmouth does show up in the Luke Cage series, it could end up being for completely different reasons.
The fact that rumors have started, however, means that wheels are beginning to spin on the series. Expect to hear more rumors, hopefully with some confirmed facts thrown in, as we move forward. It looks like the next segment of Marvel’s television universe is getting ready to get to work.
