While Marvel and Netflix have made some positive critical waves with their latest series, Luke Cage, not everyone is satisfied with some of the creative choices made for the reimagining of Power Man, particularly director Quentin Tarantino. In an interview with Yahoo (prior to the series being released), Tarantino revealed that he almost made a film about the character, but later opted to make Pulp Fiction. “I’m a huge fan. I had even considered, after Reservoir Dogs, doing a Luke Cage movie. But I ended up doing Pulp Fiction instead. So I think I might have made the right choice.”
In addition to being a huge fan, Tarantino stated that he would have kept the character rooted in the 70's (when the character was first created) as opposed to the contemporary setting the Netflix program has moved him to. Tarantino said he would have preferred to have seen the themes and story explored in that particular decade, specifically the "Hero For Hire" concept.
“Well, frankly, to tell you the truth, I might be one of the pains in their asses because I love the way the character was presented so much in the ’70s,” Tarantino admitted. “I’m not really that open to a rethinking on who he was. I just think that first issue, that origin issue … was so good, and it was really Marvel’s attempt to try to do a blacksploitation movie vibe as one of their superhero comics. And I thought they nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. So, just take that Issue 1 and put it in script form and do that. The Luke Cage: Hero for Hire era … that’s the era.”
While the show may not be rooted in the 70's, it still features plenty of callbacks and nods to the character's roots. Do you agree with Tarantino? What do you think of Luke Cage? Sound off below!
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.