After a sweet debut in Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage powers back on to Netflix
with his very own series.
And just like Daredevil and Jessica Jones before him, Luke Cage's show is bursting with
easter eggs, cameos and references to everything from Star Wars to Iron Fist, Deadpool, and
a stack of comic books.
I've put together as many of those easter eggs and call-backs as I could in this video.
Do let me know what other cool ones you spotted!
And just a quick reminder, of course, there are spoilers ahead!
Luke Cage first appeared in issue 1 of Hero For Hire, which is describes how his character
operated and is one of his aliases, so it's not surprising that there are several nods
to that in the Netflix show.
After Luke saves Genghis Connie's from Cottonmouth's men, Connie says she wants to hire Luke; however,
in contrast to the comics, Luke says he's not for hire but he will look out for her.
And when Luke tells Fish 'I ain't no hero', during their conversation in the diner, to
which Fish replies, 'that's a great slogan.
I ain't no hero; pay me!', that's a nice reference to the fact that in the comics, Luke's heroic
activities were available for a fee.
Method Man also gives a shout-out to Luke's "Hero For Hire" alias in his rap "Bulletproof
Love".
From issue 17, the "Hero For Hire" comic book series was titled "Power Man" when Luke decided
he needed a better name.
And there are a number of hints to his Power Man moniker in the show.
Pop jokingly calls Luke "Power Man" on a couple of occasions, and when Claire Temple calls
Luke "Macho Man", only to be corrected by Luke who says his name is "Power Man", she
laughs that that's even cornier.
And there's a nod to the "Ace of Spades" alias which Luke rejected in the comics when Luke's
told to take up six bottles of Ace of Spades to the club's VIP area during the first episode.
The silver metal headgear and gauntlets we see Luke wearing following Dr Burstein's experiment
is a call-back to the character's original comic-book costume which he donned for many
years following his first appearance in 1972.
And Luke's comic-book headgear gets another mention later in the show when Luke and Claire
Temple discover a file on Reva's zip-drive with the title 'Tiara'.
By the way, Tiara was also the production codename for the Netflix series.
Luke's traditional comic-book look also included a partially open yellow shirt, blue trousers
and a chain belt, all of which make an appearance in the show when he grabs a yellow shirt and
a pair of blue jeans from a washing line after his escape from prison.
When Luke catches sight of his reflection and comments that his new clothes make him
look like 'a damn fool', it's a nice reference to the fact that in the comics he also felt
his superhero outfit was 'kinda hokey'.
And just as Luke drops the 70s-style clothes for more 21st-century appropriate attire in
the show after that, his comic book character destroyed his traditional costume in 1992
on the cover of the first issue of the new series Cage.
The T-shirts, jeans, and casual jackets Luke wears throughout the show reflect his more
modern look in the comic books from the 1990s onwards.
Luke's hoodie is a nod to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot dead by George Zimmerman
in Florida in 2012.
And showrunner Cheo Coker has said that it was important to him, 'as the father of two
black sons, to have a black man in a hoodie and have them not be a threat.'
The colour of Luke's hoodie references his comic book costumes from his early days through
to more contemporary times as does the blue tracksuit and yellow bandage worn by the young
Carl Lucas training in a boxing gym during a flashback scene.
And Luke's red T-shirt in the show is a call-back to the 90s Cage comics, where Luke dropped
his previous yellow outfit for red.
The Incident, aka The Battle of New York, and the Avengers get a number of mentions
in the show.
For example, there's a lad selling raw footage of the Incident on DVD, which he says features
Tony Stark, the 'big blond dude with the hammer', 'the old dude with the shield', and 'the green
monster', in other words Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk.
Then there's Claire Temple's mother who talks about the way the world's changed with 'aliens
coming out of the sky', 'people with silver hammers', and 'green monsters', again referring
to Thor and the Hulk, as well as the Chitauri invasion.
After being explored most recently in Captain America: Civil War, as well as Daredevil and
Jessica Jones, the MCU's continuing big debate about whether superheroes are a good thing
to be supported or whether their powers should be controlled crops up repeatedly in Luke
Cage.
Early on in the show, Misty Knight and her partner Scarfe are on opposite sides of the
issue.
Scarfe, who says he saw the Incident up close and what cops can and can't do, is happy for
people like Cage to clean up the streets.
While Misty believes it's anarchy and that superheroes have no responsibility or training.
Iron Man 2 villain Justin Hammer appears to be still in business as we see Hammer Industries
weapons being sold by Cottonmouth, and the Judas bullet that Diamondback uses against
Luke is said to be based on a prototype by Hammer and is made from alien metal from the
Incident.
Interestingly, in the Marvel One-Shot All Hail The King we discovered that Justin Hammer
was incarcerated in Seagate prison, just as Luke Cage had been, which also links to Reva's
comment in the show about "millionaires hidden in dungeons" at Seagate.
When Misty Knight injures her arm during the hostage siege at Harlem's Paradise, it's a
nod to the bionic arm that Tony Stark gave her in the comics after she lost her own arm
during a bomb attack.
Misty's hairstyle and the red dress she's wearing in the last shot we see her in the
final episode is a reference to her classic red costume and look in the comics.
Simone Missick has confirmed Misty Knight is returning for The Defenders so the show
could be hinting that we might see her suited up next time and with a possible super-powered
arm.
The Biggie Smalls portrait by Barron Claiborne that hangs on Cottonmouth's wall is a nod
to Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Coker who wrote a biography of the Notorious B.I.G. and who
also co-wrote his biopic Notorious.
And in the show's second episode, Faith Evans who is Biggie's widow also performs the song
Mesmerized at Harlem's Paradise during a discussion Mariah and Cornell have in front of the portrait.
Marvel opted against giving Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes the sharp fang-like teeth his character
has in the comics, however there's a hint at that when Pop talks about how Cottonmouth
lost three teeth as a child.
The show's costume designer, Stephanie Maslansky, said she wanted to reflect Cottonmouth's snake-like
green colours from the comics, which is why she had Mahershala Ali wear what she calls
a "fantastic, fly-looking green suit" the first time we see Cornell Stokes.
When Luke Cage calls Diamondback a snake, it's a nod to the villain's snakeskin-like
costume from the comics.
And in the show, Diamondback's Hammer Tech costume does resemble the character's comic-book
costume, except for the helmet.
When Diamondback reveals his true relationship to Luke, with the words "I am your brother",
it calls to mind Darth Vader's reveal "I am your father" reveal to Luke Skywalker in The
Empire Strikes Back.
Star Wars gets another couple of references with Pop talking about Jedi mind tricks and
Fish calling Diamondback a pimp Stormtrooper when he arrives at the barbershop in his Hammer
Tech suit.
And the show continues the tradition of Marvel's Phase 2 homage to Star Wars limb loss, with
Mabel Stokes severing the finger of a young lad who's started selling drugs.
Although Willis Stryker, aka Diamondback, and Carl Lucas were never brothers in the
comics, they were friends.
In both the show and the comics, Willis was jealous of Carl and framed him for a crime
he didn't commit which led him to Seagate prison, however, the comics and TV show portray
Willis's jealousy and Carl's crime differently.
Still the name of the Judas bullet which Diamondback uses against Luke fits this whole idea of
betrayal.
When Diamondback pretends he was responsible for Reva's death in the show, it's a nod to
the comics where he did accidentally cause her death after she was caught in mob crossfire
that was targeting Willis.
There's a sneaky easter egg to Timely Comics on the dumpster labelled Timely Trash behind
Diamondback and Misty Knight in episode 8.
Timely Trash's logo is similar to that of Timely Comics, which was founded in 1939 and
later became Marvel Comics.
There's a name drop to the supervillain Black Mariah when Cornell calls his cousin Mariah
Dillard by that name.
Black Mariah was a Luke Cage enemy in the comics who later became involved in the drug
trade so the name drop could indicate Dillard's possible future in the Netflix shows.
Many of the scenes at Seagate are rather faithful to Luke Cage's origin story as told in Hero
for Hire #1.
The sadistic and racist prison guard Albert Rackham who triggered Luke Cage's superpowers
by deliberately overheating Luke's experimental chemical bath has a very similar comic book
counterpart called "Billy Bob" Rackham.
In Hero for Hire, Rackham also deliberately tries to kill Carl Lucas by turning the dial
up on the experiment.
The way Lucas discovers his super strength after punching the prison wall, and the way
he punches through to escape from Seagate is also remarkably close to the comic book
pages from Hero for Hire.
A poster behind Reva for a talk by Warden Stuart is a shout-out to Warden Tyler Stuart
from the comics who moved Rackham down the ranks to a regular guard at Seagate.
Shades also spent time in Seagate with Luke Cage and has a similar story in the comics,
later returning to New York to a life of crime.
Interestingly, in the comics Shades also works against Luke Cage and Iron Fist, but for Ward
Meachum who upgrades Shades' sunglasses to an optic blasting visor, which is something
we could see in the upcoming Iron Fist show or The Defenders.
Dr Burstein was also at Seagate conducting experiments on inmates in both the comics
and show.
In the comics, he experimented with a version of the super-soldier serum used to create
Captain America and although that's not stated explicitly in in the show, there is an allusion
to it when Cottonmouth sarcastically asks Luke if he thinks he's Harlem's Captain America.
And when Dr Burstein later offers Claire Temple a job working with him, it's a nod to the
time in the comics when Burstein and Claire worked together at the Storefront Clinic in
New York.
And the end-of-season kiss between Claire and Luke reflects the fact that Claire Temple
was also been one of Luke Cage's earliest love interests in the comics.
Like the previous Netflix Marvel shows, Luke Cage continues to show parallels between Claire
and the comic book character Night Nurse, for example, during the Harlem's Paradise
hostage situation when Claire fakes having to leave to get some medicine, one of the
guards says "Escort the night nurse here downstairs".
When Luke accidentally destroys a can of shaving cream after his prison escape, it's a nod
to the 2-page "Magic Shave" Luke Cage custom comic ad by Marvel in which Luke accidentally
interrupts a guy who's using "Magic Shave" cream.
In the ad, Luke accidentally smashes through the bathroom wall during a fight with the
Absorbing Man and quips he didn't even get scratched, a good excuse for the shaving guy
to explain how he didn't get scratched either thanks to "Magic Shave".
We get to hear Luke Cage say his classic catchphrase from the comics "Sweet Christmas" five times
in the show as well as a young Willis Stryker telling a young Luke during boxing training
"not to give him that Sweet Christmas shit".
According to comic book writer and Static Shock creator Dwayne McDuffie, Luke's catchphrase
owes its existence to the fact that Luke Cage writer Archie Goodwin took inspiration from
the Harlem Detective novels of author Chester Himes.
And actually, there's a couple of shout-outs specifically to Chester Himes in the show
both at Pop's Barber Shop and when Luke is discussing books while being taken back to
prison in the finale.
Another book that makes an appearance in the show is Walter Mosley's Little Green, which
we see Luke reading at various points.
The hardboiled detective novel is part of Mosley's Easy Rawlins series and has Easy
waking up after falling into a coma in the previous book and features the detective's
search for a missing young man.
This parallels Luke Cage's situation in the show where he's recovered from being shot
in the head in Jessica Jones and is trying to find Chico.
There's a cool tease for Iron Fist in the finale when Claire takes the number off a
flyer advertising self-defence and martial arts training by Sensei Colleen Wing.
Colleen Wing will be one of Danny Rand's allies in the next Netflix Marvel series Iron Fist
and will be played by Jessica Henwick.
And the upcoming Defenders series gets plenty more set-up in Luke Cage with references to
Daredevil and Jessica Jones, the other key members of the group.
In the finale, Claire offers to contact a really great lawyer she knows, referencing
Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil.
And after Fish finds the missing files that can prove Luke's innocence, presumably Matt
Murdock will be able to appeal his sentence.
Jessica Jones and how she killed Kilgrave gets referenced in Mariah Dillard's speech
against super-powered individuals where she mentions how "that woman over in Hell's Kitchen
snapped a man's neck because he was mind-controlling her."
And Trish Walker, Jessica Jones's best friend, makes a little voice cameo in Luke Cage as
we hear her radio show Trish Talk discussing Luke Cage's activities.
The lawyer who represents Cottonmouth and VIP hostess Candace is Ben Donovan, who also
acted as Wilson Fisk's lawyer in Season 2 of Daredevil.
His comic book counterpart is "Big" Ben Donovan, a Harlem-based lawyer who first appeared in
1973 in the Hero for Hire series.
For a time, in the comics, Donovan acted as a lawyer for both Cage and Claire Temple.
Assistant DA Blake Tower from the second season of Daredevil also makes a brief cameo when
he arrives to check on the hostage situation at Harlem's Paradise.
While Stan Lee popped up in police station posters and pictures in Daredevil and Jessica
Jones, in Luke Cage his face features on a poster in a local store window.
And right below that poster, there's another one advertising a Nightclub Party with the
word DJ in big letters, which feels like a little hint at Lee's cameo as a strip club
DJ or MC in the Deadpool movie.
Method Man makes a cool cameo in the store scene with two bumbling robbers.
He jokes with Luke Cage who gives a shout-out to his early work and they swap hoodies.
Later Method Man performs his Luke Cage tribute rap "Bulletproof Love" on the real-life radio
show Sway's Universe Sway In The Morning.
Interestingly, one of Method Man's aliases is Johnny Blaze, which is also the name of
one of Marvel's Ghost Rider characters, who was played on the big screen by superhero
fan Nic Cage, who took his surname from Luke Cage!
There's numerous nods to the raised fist salute that is often associated with the Black Panther
Party and the Black Power movement.
There's Luke Cage's raised fist as it punches out of the rubble of Genghis Connie's in episode
4 and the fist Luke makes while he's being treated in Burstein's tank of boiling acid
in episode 9.
By the way Black Lives Matter also crops up in a speech by Mariah Dillard.
The Luke Cage show introduces a new TV news network WJBP-TV to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
and features the news reporter Megan McLaren.
Megan McLaren and WJBP-TV first appeared in the Thunderbolts comics in 1997.
And finally there's a sneaky easter egg to the graphic designer of Marvel's Netflix shows,
Zachary Zirlin, whose name appears in a newspaper headline that Misty Knight scrolls past when
she's trying to find out who Willis Stryker is in the newspaper archive.
Zirlin's designs are responsible for many of the visual easter eggs hidden in all of
Marvel's Netflix shows such as New York Bulletin front pages.
On top of that, the author of the newspaper article, Jeff Kujan, is the art department
coordinator on all the Marvel Netflix shows too!
So there are some of my top easter eggs, references and cameos from Luke Cage, but which were
your favourites and what did I miss?
And what do you think about Luke Cage and how it compared to Daredevil and Jessica Jones?
Let me know in the comments below!
And if you enjoyed this video, do hit those like and share buttons, and subscribe if you're
not already.
If you're a fan of comic book TV shows, you can also check out my Jessica Jones, Daredevil
and Iron Fist videos here, and also 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Flash.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!