The official trailer for Season 2 of the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage has been released online. The new season is releasing June 22 and shows even more promise than the first season of the series.
The first season of Luke Cage ended with the titular character being thrown in prison, after he escaped several years before as a result of being experimented on. However, after the events of The Defenders, this season picks up with Luke Cage back on the streets. As the trailer reveals, Luke Cage is now an even more respected figure among the Harlem community, even inspiring heroic wall art of the impenetrable hero. Everyone knows him, even the criminals, and it seems like Harlem is now safer than ever.
However, things changed for our beloved hero about halfway through the trailer when a new, strong villain came into the picture. This villain who seemingly beat the daylights out of Luke Cage with his bare hands is none other than the notorious villain Bushmaster. In the comics, Bushmaster was a crime lord from Europe who came to the United States, where he had run-ins with a number of Marvel heroes including Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
The show has seemingly taken a new twist on Bushmaster, though. Instead of being from Europe, like in the comics, his accent actually gives the impression that he is from Africa. This twist is actually reminiscent of Black Panther, but instead of featuring a strong American criminal coming into an African country, it features a strong criminal from an African country coming into America. Whether or not Bushmaster's motivations will be similar to Black Panther's Killmonger remains to be seen. We most likely won't learn what makes this new villain kick until season 2 releases next month.
In addition to the new villain, the trailer also put a lot of focus on the show's female hero Misty Knight. The last we saw of Misty was in The Defenders, where she tragically lost her right arm. Now, Misty is equipped with a bionic right arm which makes her incredibly stronger. The trailer revealed that she and Luke Cage will now be teaming up, even if neither of them agree to be a sidekick to the other. This is reminiscent of the comics, where Misty Knight was practically a superhero herself, fighting alongside Luke Cage / Power Man.
One notable absence from this trailer appears to be Danny Rand / Iron Fist. After the release of The Defenders, rumors spread across the Internet that Luke Cage and Iron Fist would be teaming up in Luke Cage's second season to form the "Heroes for Hire" like they did in the comics. The dynamic between these two characters was one of the better parts of The Defenders, and bringing Iron Fist into Luke Cage's second season could have been a good way for Netflix to redeem the despised character. However, for better or for worse, Danny Rand has yet to appear in any of the Luke Cage trailers, leading many to believe that these rumors were false. While this lack of inclusion may be disappointing to some Marvel fans, it likely comes as a relief to many others as this season will be able to let Luke Cage shine yet again without him needing to share the spotlight.
All in all, this latest trailer from Netflix looks promising. If the second season of Jessica Jones is anything to go by, the Marvel Netflix series are back to the great quality that they started with. Luke Cage Season 2 has the potential to be the best season of a Marvel Netflix show yet! You can check out the full trailer below.