Luke Cage hasn’t been seen in the MCU since the cancellation of his Netflix show in late 2018, but 10 years after the premiere of the series, the MCU is finally telling the Luke Cage story fans have always wanted to see. Luke Cage is one of the most significant characters that Netflix’s Defenders universe introduced, which is why it’s such a shame that he’s been missing in action. Luckily, his comeback seems inevitable, even if the way that the MCU is telling this story isn’t like how anyone expected.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is nearing an end, and it has proven to be the MCU’s biggest connective tissue to the Defenders universe yet. While season 1 confirmed that the Netflix Daredevil show was canon, the Defenders have been even more present in season 2, where Jessica Jones has returned and played a major role in the story. However, it seems like Luke Cage may make his return shortly.
Luke Cage has finally been made canon in the MCU once again as the result of his name being mentioned in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, episode 7. In the episode, Jessica kidnaps Mr. Charles, threatening him after his men attacked her house while her daughter was home. In turn, Charles threatens Jessica, saying that he is the only one who can reconnect her with Luke. Luke is seemingly overseas working for the government, with his superpowers probably being a major asset for the U.S.
This is big news for the MCU, as it seems that a lot has changed since Luke Cage was last seen. At the end of Luke Cage season 2, it looked like the Hero of Harlem was becoming the new Crime Lord of Harlem, with him filling the power vacuum that he created by fighitng New York’s criminals. Now, Luke is doing missions for the U.S. government, although it isn’t known why he’s working for them.
If Luke is being paid by the government to go on these missions, then it seems that he is finally a hero for hire. Since Luke Cage and Iron Fist were introduced to the MCU, fans have wanted to see a Heroes for Hire storyline, where the duo sells their superheroic services to whoever can afford them. While this isn’t an exact Heroes for Hire adaptation, Luke selling his abilities to the government is at least close, and it is definitely the closest that the MCU has gotten.
This is all speculation based on a brief conversation in Born Again, so it’ll take more details before we’re truly able to tell what Luke Cage is up to. It could be that Luke is being forced to do this, which would explain why Charles is seemingly keeping Jessica away from him. However, it could also be that Luke (and possibly Danny) are getting hired to do these missions. We still don’t even know what his mission is, leaving another major question mark for the MCU to answer.
Another possibility for the future of Luke Cage in the MCU is that he could join the Thunderbolts. Charles has already confirmed that he works for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who formed the previous Thunderbolts team. So, if Luke is working for Charles, then he is also working for Valentina. Now that the previous team is a publicly known entity, Valentina could be looking to form another team of heroes and villains who can go on black ops missions for her. Luke’s average appearance and incredible powers would make him a perfect candidate for this new team.
Luke has been a member and the leader of the Thunderbolts before, so it makes sense for the MCU to adapt this storyline. If the team has a significant presence of Defenders characters like Luke and Bullseye, this would significantly differentiate itself from the previous team, making a new movie a sequel and a fresh take.
However, there is still a lot of ground to cover before this story is told. There are heavy rumors that Luke Cage will appear in Daredevil: Born Again season 3, meaning that he probably isn’t part of the Thunderbolts yet. However, season 3 could easily set this up, showing the path forward for Defenders characters in the MCU.
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