Carl Marvel Research Paper

It’s long been argued that television is catered to white audiences. More often than not the stories of People of Colour (POC) were made ‘safe’ to enter the white homes of America, even if that meant not being authentic to those the story lines were anchored around. In recent years the representation of all who live in the United States has gotten a better reflection on screen, some argue not a major improvement, but definitely a step in the right direction. Marvel is a huge presence in the media industry at the moment, with content on cinema and television screens - and now other devices with its partnership with Netflix. With the company having such a force in modern day culture across all platforms, it was sometimes criticised for only promoting
He first appeared in 1972, his character with obvious influence from the Blaxploitation films, ‘black action films aimed at black audiences’ (SeperateCinema), that were also becoming popular at the time. The back story of Cage is that he is born and raised in Harlem, New York (Marvel). Growing up he was involved in gangs, going in and out of juvenile homes, until he realised his current aspirations and and actions were hurting his family. He vowed to reform, better himself as an adult, and get into legitimate work. Of course it wasn’t that simple to leave gang life behind, and issues with old ‘friends’ gets Cage arrested and sentenced to prison. Furious from being betrayed and being sent to prison, Cage gets into many fights and attempts to escape multiple times, causing him to be transferred to a prison down in Georgia. Life doesn’t get any easier for Cage while in Georgia, and he eventually is recruited by a doctor in the prison to volunteer for an experiment. The experiment involves a variant of the serum presumed to be derived from the one used on Captain America during World War II, its aim to perfect the human form for war. Like all origin stories go, something went wrong during the procedure and this is how he gains his powers: superhuman strength and durability. Cage escapes the prison after the lab mishap and returns to New York, now adopting the alias of Luke Cage. In the comics he features in many different crossovers of super-partnerships and groups, where as in the Netflix show it almost seems much more mundane. Cage returns back to Harlem, and tries to invisibly assimilate back into his neighbourhood. While the series is ultimately a superhero show, it feels like a drama first foremost, with the ‘super-ness’ naturally integrating with the storylines and heightening climaxes of the episodes. Cage