Marvel’s Luke Cage – Soul Brother #1

By: Darryl Ley

Luke Cage (Mike Colter) stands on a corner and puts in ear buds with music playing in his hand is crumpled wrapper with his name on it. He crosses the street towards a building. Inside the building is a drug operation with armed men and women masked and, in their underwear, assembling the drugs. We see that it is being stamped with Luke Cage’s name. We hear the sound of scuffling and one by one the guards get pulled into the darkness. Luke then enters causing the women to scream and run away while the guards draw their firearms and take up positions around him. Luke Cage asks “Really?” and one of the guards say he has to know we tried. He makes them wait until he puts his ear buds back in then the fight begins he makes quick work of them shrugging off machine gun fire. At the end he grabs one of the guards and warns him to tell his boss that he’s coming for them.

A dealer is selling the same “Luke Cage” drug on the corner when he sees one of the guards run past and Luke is behind him. By the time he turns around he leans in and asks menacingly “What’s my name?” causing the dealer to run off Luke continues on his way and the opening credits roll.

A preacher (Reg E. Cathey) is looking in the mirror seemingly practicing a sermon and speaking about Luke Cage and his effect in the media and in the community. He reminds the audience that they need to be their own heroes and not rely on one man, as he speaks we see clips of Luke around the neighbourhood interacting with the community, taking selfies, scaring off criminals, etc. He questions who Luke Cage serves and we see further clips of a police detective examining a case and Misty Knight (Simone Missick) in her bathroom fixing her hair. He finishes warning the audience that men are flawed, vain and often spiteful and should not be worshipped.

At Pop’s we see Bobby Fish (Ron Cephas Jones) is talking with DW (Jeremiah Craft) about the upcoming move and the landlord has doubled the rent. DW is folding up Luke Cage memorabilia as the two talk about the effects of Luke’s stardom and the fact he is not motivated by money. A vlogger bursts in despite the closed sign on the door and DW quickly throws him out. Luke enters still wearing an African American College Alliance covered in bullet holes. He suggests that sponsorship isn’t a good idea before heading to the backroom where he is joined by Bobby. There is a map on the wall where Luke is tracking the drugs in the neighbourhood. Bobby hands him a business card and says “he” visited again, but Luke discards it. Bobby reads the magazine articles that the preacher alluded to comparing Luke with Barack Obama, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

Bobby brings up the rent hike and gently suggests that Luke get the money from the drug factories he has been busting up, but Luke argues that they cannot profit from people’s misery. Bobby reminds him that the shop was rebuilt the first time from dirty money, but Luke calls that restitution. Bobby wants Luke to consider sponsorship and continue Pop’s dreams Luke pushes back saying he has dreams of his own he then leaves looking annoyed.

Claire (Rosario Dawson) is doing physical therapy with Misty Knight and she’s frustrated. Claire expresses her thanks for Misty saving her life and clearly feels guilt ridden because of it. Misty cautions Claire that Luke will suffer because of his fight to make Harlem safe and to support him. Shades (Theo Rossi) is waiting on the street for a colleague Comanche (Thomas Q. Jones). After a short talk he hands over keys to a new car.

Luke is in the back of Pop’s when Misty comes in and they reflect on the fact that for every drug factory Luke shuts down another one springs up. They discuss who the likely supplier is, and Luke asks Misty to help which causes her to immediately refuse and quickly leave.

At Ginny’s Supper Club Shades and Mariah (Alfre Woodard) are discussing ways of taking their business legitimate. They mention Mark Higgins who is a local black entrepreneur. His business has two huge products about to be announced and their lawyer wants them to buyout the company’s stock while it is still low, but they will need to convince Higgins to sell. Shades suggests blackmail while Mariah suggests a honey trap. A server then comes out and asks if Shades and his “Aunt” want anything else. Mariah makes a joke of it, but is clear that Shades is furious and the server quickly leaves.

At the Red Rooster Luke and Claire are having dinner and he is telling her about his day. She asks if he really told the dealer to say his name. She also brings up the fact that he isn’t being remunerated for his work like a fireman or policeman might be. Claire wants Luke to formalise his “work,” but they are interrupted by a family who want to take a picture with Luke. Claire says everyone loves him, but Luke is worried that it is only temporary.

Misty is at home alone drinking and we see that she has a purple heart (an award for being seriously hurt in the line of duty) still in the box. At the back of Ginny’s Shades is beating up the server and then he calls his lieutenant Comanche in to take over. Luke and Claire are at home being intimate with the song “Night Nurse” playing over it. Later that night Luke heads out to look for the drug dealer.

Luke sees Sugar (Sean Ringgold) is waiting by his car and talks to him. He finds out that Mariah is looking to get out of the game and holding an auction for their Hammer contracts. As Luke continues his walk he runs into the preacher and we quickly learn that the preacher is his father and the two argue. His father returned all his letters sent from jail and never visited him. Luke is especially angry that his father didn’t come to see him after his mother died. He wants to know why his father wants to reconcile now, but they keep on arguing calling each other arrogant until Luke eventually leaves.

Mariah is interviewing a new hostess for a job. Mariah gives Stephanie (Tarah Rodgers) tips on how to seduce men and she gives her a new name to use at work “Billie.” On the waterfront John “Bushmaster” McIver (Mustafa Shakir) looks around and discusses battle plans. He says Brooklyn is his next target.

DW returns to Pop’s from a funeral for his friend’s daughter who died of a heroin overdose. He urges Luke to do more. They discuss Luke’s leads and they work out who El Tercero is. At Mariah’s club she watches her hostess Billie successfully honey trap Mark Higgins. She asks Shades to brief on the major players who are there to bid for the contract. He points out Arturo Rey III who smuggles drugs, Nigel Garrison who runs the Yardies responsible for guns and gangs and Dontrell “Cockroach” Hamilton who runs an illegal casino operation.

Cockroach makes a crack about Shades using Mariah to raise his standing before Shades himself comes to collect him. The three parties make their play and we see Luke enter the club attracting the attention of everyone on the floor. Comanche tries to intercept, but gets knocked out before the three parties and Mariah comes out to confront Luke, eventually revealing that Claire is there too.

Luke is furious and finds out that Claire followed him using the Harlem Hero’s App, which reports on Luke’s location around the city. Claire took pictures of the three parties bidding for Mariah’s guns and Luke is still angry, but Claire blows up and reminds him that she is his backup not just his woman. He brings up the guilt he feels over Misty’s lost arm and Claire says she feels it, too. Claire says that someone will inevitably find a way to hurt him that they already have. Luke responds by declaring he loves her and the two kiss. They make up declaring each other a pain in each other’s asses.

Luke gets a call from Sugar who gives him a tip about a shipment near the river. He hangs up and wakes Claire up to grab his hoodie. We see that Sugar has set him up as he asks someone for his payment. Misty is walking back from a grocery trip and is shocked when she sees Cockroach who she thought was in jail. He was released because of her partner Scarfe being revealed as a corrupt cop and all his cases being reviewed. She eventually walks away as he tries to goad her.

Mariah is at home drinking when Shades arrives, and they discuss who to sell to. Mariah wants to save her family name with the money. Luke has tracked down the tip given to him by Sugar and takes a closer look at a Merlin delivery truck. As he enters the back we see Arturo Rey get out of a car watching Luke detonating it once he gets inside. The truck explodes in a huge fireball. Rey smiles, but as the fire clears we see Luke step out of the truck patting out his burning hoodie and walking towards Rey. Hey quickly grabs a gun and shoots Luke with a Judas bullet, but somehow Luke shrugs it off and knocks Rey out.

From seemingly out of nowhere DW appears with a steady cam setup, he too used Harlem’s Hero app to track Luke down. He tells Luke he is going to post the footage and says he looks like a superhero. Luke turns to the camera and calls everyone out and ends with a dab before putting Arturo Rey in the back of the car and driving away.

At the precinct Misty Knight runs into her old Captain Tom Ridenhour (Peter Jay Fernandez). He’s surprised that she is back and then says he thinks that she is not ready. Misty isn’t ready for retirement. She asks how many cases were bounced because of Scarfe’s corruption being revealed and is angry when she learns the number is thirty. They are interrupted by Luke bringing in the Judas bullet gun and Arturo Rey III. He gives them the shrapnel from the Judas bullet which should means federal time for Rey.

Captain Ridenhour introduces himself to Luke who knows his reputation. He tells Luke he has to stop and calls him an illegal weapon. Luke challenges the Captain (and the police) to do better. Nigel Garrison and the Yardies come home to find Bushmaster in his place. He says he is there because Nigel is considering working with a Stokes who Bushmaster blames for the death of his brother. Bushmaster declares that Harlem is his birthright. Nigel wants to know how Bushmaster will deal with Luke Cage.

He attacks and murders Nigel and then takes shots from the rest of the Yardies directly in the chest seemingly to little effect and then gives them an ultimatum to stay and join him or run they all stay. Over at Mariah’s club Luke enters her office and drops the Judas bullet on her desk. He threatens to kill Mariah if she ever says Claire’s name again.