Just over a month away from the premiere of Netflix’s newest Marvel series Jessica Jones, we still don’t have a full grasp on what we can expect from the psychological thriller. As such, we know even less about what the next series, Luke Cage, will be about. But while the “What” and the “Why” may be out of reach, we’ve got the “When” and the “Where” locked down. According to star Mike Colter:
I can tell you what they’ve allowed me to, which is basically Luke Cage will take place a few months after Jessica Jones. So in real time, if you watch Jessica Jones, you’ll find [at the end] Luke Cage uptown in Harlem, working, trying to make ends meet.
I guess that was a spoiler alert, for anyone thinking that Luke Cage was going to die in Jessica Jones, and that Luke Cage was going to be a prequel series. It’s best you found out now. Anyway, that gives us a decent idea for how Jessica Jones might end for this character; he and Jessica are lovers in the comics, which is something that her series is going to get into, and it’s likely that they’ll go through some kind of a break-up. Which means that whenever they all have to come together again for the Defenders miniseries, there can be some strange chemistry between the characters. It’s nice to play “will they?/won’t they?” when you can replace sex with crushing objects around the house in their fists.
Certainly Krysten Ritter could appear in a Luke Cage episode or two, making a break-up unlikely for his lone-wolfness in Harlem. But Colter also explained where his character will be when the show starts. Here’s what he told ComicBook.
He’s tending bar, he’s bouncing around. And for good reason; he’s a fugitive. He has some skeletons in his closet. He’s trying to basically stay off the radar. The people he hangs out with, though, are in need. Ultimately, he’d rather be alone, but with the way he’s equipped he does step up. That’s what it’s about, it’s about finding that inner feeling to make you want to take action.
And according to him, Marvel’s idea of Harlem is “a completely different world from Hell’s Kitchen,” so we’re already expecting different stories to be told with these different characters, and now we’re also anticipating a different setting to ogle.
If you wanted to get your first listen to Colter saying the classic catchphrase “Sweet Christmas,” check out the video below.
Also starring Alfre Woodard, Mahershala Ali, Theo Rossi, Frank Whaley and Simone Missick, Luke Cage will premiere on Netflix at some point in 2016. In the meantime, you can catch Jessica Jones debuting on the streaming service Friday, November 20.
