Luke Cage Season 1 Review

This show has so many MCU tie-ins. Turk Barrett popped over from Daredevil. It didn't even occur to me that people would be selling bootleg footage of the Battle of New York. Thor and Hulk both got name dropped, along with Cap's shield. Trish Walker providing a voice over was a pleasant surprise, as well. Then there was Claire Temple, tying everything together. Did anyone else notice her Iron Fist tease at the end? Spoiler: she takes the number off a sign for Colleen Wing's self defense classes.

My guess for where this takes place in the timeline is before Agents of SHIELD season three. The Sokovia Accords were never mentioned, which they would have been for a superpowered outlaw. The fact that the ATCU was never brought in would suggest they hadn't been formed yet. It's obviously after The Avengers. Someone said at a convention that this takes place during Daredevil season three. When Claire first appears, she mentions the ninjas attacking the hospital, which was in episode ten/eleven. I can't remember when she leaves and comes back, but it can't be long. The entirety of Luke Cage is probably something along the lines of 10-14 days. Unfortunately, correlating the Netflix shows to anything else is hard given the lack of direct references. I need to spend more time building a chronology.

I'm spotting a number of potential things for season two. Bobby Fish floated the idea of Heroes for Hire. That probably won't happen until after they introduce Danny Rand. Based on what that doctor was doing, we haven't seen the last of Stryker. Claire said that maybe the procedure could only work for Luke. If that's the case, it could likely work for his half-brother as well. I'm guessing Luke's trial will happen in the background of Iron Fist. It'd be rather limiting if he was still in custody (in Georgia) by the time Defenders rolled around. I'm guessing Matt won't be Luke's lawyer, since he probably isn't licensed outside of New York.

I'm loving the retro costumes. Luke only had his for thirty seconds in a flashback, but it was a nice touch. I don't know anything about Stryker's supersuit, but it looks like it was drawn by a comic book artist in the 1970s.

Give me the Misty Knight spin-off. Make her a police procedural featuring Claire Temple as the best friend. Maybe have Matt cameo in one episode as defense attorney. If you want an AoS crossover, have Daisy be called in as a witness on something that happened years ago. Or she can be someone's old hacker friend. Clint Barton as blink-and-you'll-miss-him landlord? It occurs me I'm only suggesting cameos and not actual plot.