One of the linchpins of the Marvel universe on Netflix, Luke Cage is now available for binge-watching of its second season. Mike Colter joined us on Sunday at 5:30PM in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom to share some insights about Luke and how things have developed in the second season. Moderator Thomas Parham started out by asking a few Inside the Actors Studio–like questions before opening up the floor to questions from the fans.
Parham asked Colter about playing opposite some of his supporting cast members, especially Alfre Woodard and Mahershala Ali. He commented that Woodard legitimized them because they needed a villain to anchor the show. “As a superhero, you’re only as good as the villain you face. It’s one of the things where you need the villain to be really good so that you can then make the audience sit up in their seat and lean forward because they’re concerned.”
More than one question focused on the cultural significance of having a bulletproof black man in the current political climate. Colter replied that, in particular, the hoodies that Cage wears are on purpose as a more subtle comment on the current issues, and of course as a black man there is a strong association between that and bullets. But other superheroes are bulletproof, whether it’s them or their costumes, so it’s not something that comes up for them. Hopefully, it will not be so significant to have a black man that can’t be harmed by bullets in the future.
Since Cage gets shot a lot, one of the questions was about what Colter does to prepare for having to take those hits and look like he doesn’t feel it. He responded that if you do it enough, you do get used to the squibs, but that he never looks forward to it because he’s afraid that something could go wrong. “There’s always people who give you instructions and everybody has to remember that this is a dangerous situation. So you can’t stand over here and you can’t do this and you can’t do that. But meanwhile, I’m wearing this stuff. Everyone’s being protected but I gotta wear it. … But ultimately, I just can’t wait for it to get over to be honest and I hope they all go off… because if all these gunfires don’t go off, then we have to do it again.”
It is clear after an hour of listening to Colter talk about Luke and the process of making it all happen, that this is a character that is deeply important to him. We look forward to seeing where the events of season two end up taking him.
