Cheo Hodari Coker (Ray Donovan, Southland) is not shying away from the the unexpected relevance Luke Cage suddenly has in the wake of the current racial tension in the US stemming from police shootings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, St. Paul, Minnesota and the sniper ambush in Dallas, Texas. Said Coker to Entertainment Weekly, "There’s never been a time in history where having a bulletproof black man, in terms of just looking at how that affects a neighborhood, in terms of looking at, for example, how it not only changes law enforcement but also changes the criminal world, and really in a sense, it’s like Luke’s entrance into this world changes the ecology of the entire neighborhood. Between that and exploring what it means to be a hero. Is it [someone] who's far removed from everything or is it someone that the community can touch, that they can go to. There are a lot of issues explored in the show but at the same time, it's [still] fun." Coker also shared a similar sentiment during last night's SDCC Marvel TV presentation. "When I think about what’s going on in the world right now, the world is ready for a bulletproof black man."
There's still two months to go before Luke Cage's September 30 premiere. However, with a presidential election looming, the discussion of race relations and police training is a discussion that will likely rage on for many more months to come. It will be interesting to see whether Luke Cage becomes an inadvertent symbol for this contentious social political issue.
After a sabotaged experiment leaves him with super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive trying to rebuild his life in modern day Harlem, New York City. But he is soon pulled out of the shadows and must fight a battle for the heart of his city – forcing him to confront a past he had tried to bury.
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