Simone Missick plays Misty Knight in the upcoming Netflix and Marvel series, Luke Cage, a character who could become a mainstay with the Defenders. With the show less than two weeks away, Missick has spoken a bit on how current events seem to inform the storyline of Luke Cage and its setting in Harlem.
These events specifically involve police brutality and Black Lives Matter, the activist movement campaigning against minority-targeted violence. With Luke Cage being set in such a culturally relevant location, it seems fitting that the show would incorporate this into its narrative.
Speaking with Home and Family, Missick said (full clip below):
“You know, I think film and TV is this great, powerful, visual medium, but then it also gives you the opportunity to talk about things without necessarily addressing them very heavy-handedly. So we know that right now we’re in a time where we are looking at the black lives matter movement, and that all kind of sparked from the death of Trayvon Martin, who was this young teenage boy visiting his dad and he was wearing a hoodie, and was attacked and murdered. The creator of the show Cheo Hodari Coker and the costume design team and Mike Colter the lead of the show decided that they wanted Luke Cage to wear a hoodie in order to prove and to show and to highlight visually that just because a person has on a piece of clothing and is a color doesn’t mean that they’re a bad person, and it’s sparking conversation.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d4OIRCHWV8
If the intent is to start conversations, Luke Cage could be a great vehicle for just that. The show has already earned critical acclaim for its entertaining story, great performances, and soul, as our own critic Andy Behbakt wrote in his review. If there’s a chance for Luke Cage to also bring up important topics that are less easy to discuss at the dinner table, as Missick seems to suggest, than it’s worth the probable backlash.
Luke Cage premieres via Netflix on September 30th.
Source: Comicbook.com
