10 Things You Need To Know About Luke Cage

10) He’s A Product Of The Blaxploitation Craze

Luke Cage is already being lauded for making up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s previous lack of diversity by featuring a largely black cast and starring a non-white hero for the first time (the films will follow suit with Black Panther in 2018). However, Luke Cage was originally a much more controversial character.

When he debuted in 1972, Blaxploitation films – that were either seen as empowering or racially insensitive – were all the rage and Cage was an attempt by Marvel to cash in on that. An ex-con who was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Cage didn’t wear a cape or fly – he was a more grounded, street-wise superhero than audiences were used to. Though he did take up a superhero name…