Actor Mike Colter recently sat down with Collider to talk about his role on the supernatural Paramount + series Evil, which is currently airing its second season. From the creators of The Good Wife, Evil follows a reluctant psychologist who teams up with a priest-in-training (Colter) to investigate and find logical explanations for supernatural mysteries. In the interview, Colter discusses his role as priest-in-training David Acosta, and what fans can expect from the rest of season two. He also talked about his time playing Marvel hero Luke Cage on the short-lived Netflix series of the same name.
Marvel's Luke Cage ran for two seasons on Netflix, before it was canceled along with Netlfix'x other Marvel-related original series including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Defenders, and The Punisher. The series focused on Harlem-based hero-for-hire Luke Cage, who was previously introduced in the first season of Jessica Jones. Cage is a super-strong bulletproof hero who protects the people of Harlem. The character originated in the comics back in the 1970s and was heavily influenced by the blaxploitation movies of the decade such as Shaft, which often focused on issues of racism and corruption. Likewise, the series dealt with similar themes, but in a contemporary setting. While Colter played the character for both seasons and reprised the role in The Defenders and the Jessica Jones Finale, he clearly feels that there was more they could have done with the character.
When asked by Collider whether his appearance in the series finale of Jessica Jones gave him closure, Colter said: "To be honest, no, it didn’t give me a chance to have any closure. There were so many places we could have taken it. There’s obviously the Alias series where Jessica and Luke had a child and had this adult life they were trying to live, and there’s this moment where they are working out their blue-collar, making ends meet life together, which is very interesting. There’s the journey that Luke had in his own series with Harlem’s Paradise, where he’s taken over the club, and is he gonna be a bad guy or a guy that is on the other side of the law, and who’s gonna stop him."
Colter is of course referring to the romantic relationship between hard-drinking private investigator Jessica Jones and Cage. While the relationship was briefly explored in the first season of Jessica Jones the couple never settled down and had kids. In the comics, Luke and Jessica have a daughter named Danielle Cage (In honor of Danny Rand/Iron Fist), and while much of the original Alias comic series served as inspiration for the first season of Jessica Jones, they never reached a point where they would have children. it definitely would have been interesting to see these two dysfunctional people attempt to raise a child and maintain their hostile vigilante side gigs.
Colter also teases the idea of Cage becoming a villain after taking over the Harlem Paradise. At the end of the second season, Cage inherits the famous Harlem nightclub that usually serves as a base of operations for criminals. While Cage declares himself "The Sheriff of Harlem" and claims to be a protector rather than a predatory gangster, his allies become concerned with his willingness to take over the club, even comparing him to Donald Trump after cage says he wants to "Make Harlem great again". Having Cage become the bad guy certainly would have been an interesting turn, as the character has been proven to basically be unstoppable. Would one of the other Defenders have to take him on? Would he cross paths with Jon Berenthal's vicious Punisher? Sadly it seems like fans will never know.
Thankfully, Colter doesn't seem too bitter about the end of Netflix's Luke Cage. When asked whether saying goodbye to the character felt bittersweet, Colter said "Yeah, of course. I think so. The positive thing about something like that is you’ll always have a fond memory of something that didn’t stay too long. It’s like a relationship or anything else that never reached its peak or its descent. You don’t have any negative memories of it because it will live in this place of perfection, or some sense of promise, at all times in our life. It’s a fond, romanticized notion of what could have been."
While all the Netflix Marvel series were canceled to make way for the current Disney + series, there has been talk recently of characters like Luke Cage returning to the MCU, especially since Marvel Studios recently acquired the live-action rights to both Jessica Jones and The Punisher. Whether or not Colter or any of the other actors from these series would reprise their roles, is difficult to say.
You can watch new episodes of Evil streaming Sundays, exclusively on Paramount +.
Source: collider