Final Luke Cage Trailer Highlights the Queen of Harlem, Mariah Dillard
Alfre Woodard in a gown is my new sexuality.
“You don’t need to be bulletproof to be a superhero. Black women have always had superpowers, turning pain into progress. Harlem doesn’t need a hero; it needs a Queen.”
I’m ready for Mariah Dillard to rise. Ugh, Luke Cage, you are really dragging me in. If not with that powerful introduction, then when “Ready or Not” by The Fugees drops, it’s a reminder that when Luke Cage is on, it is on.
In the final trailer for the new season of Marvel’s Luke Cage, which premieres globally on Netflix June 22, Mariah Dillard is faced with an imminent and formidable threat to her hold over Harlem – the unstoppable Bushmaster. Armed with Mariah’s deepest secrets, Bushmaster endangers everything that she holds most dear. Meanwhile, Luke Cage wrestles with the idea of intervening and protecting Mariah for the good of Harlem. (via Netflix)
When Cottonmouth was killed off too quickly in season one, I spent the remainder of the season waiting for Mariah, played to perfection by living legend Alfre Woodard, to fill in that vacuum of power. It seems Luke Cage‘s second season will allow her to run Harlem on her own, not to mention using Cage’s own “dark chocolate boy scout” mentality to protect her from enemies. If this is the official beginning of a Lex Luther/Superman dynamic between the two, I’m here for it.
For all the reasons I love Black Lightning, my biggest disappointment with it was the death of Lady Eve (Jill Scott) way before her full potential was realized.
I also love the idea of bringing in Mariah’s daughter and having a black mother-daughter relationship at the forefront of the show. Especially since it seems they are at odds about their family’s dirt business history.
It’s also a great idea that Bushmaster, played by new cast member Mustafa Shaki, is going after both Cage and Mariah, forcing them to make an alliance for the betterment of Harlem. Mariah may be crooked, but she wants to at least appear to be a savior and that will at least ensure she’ll protect Harlem in her own way.
With each of these trailers, I am hoping more and more that Luke Cage will be the Marvel Netflix show to beat the sophomore slump—or at the very least, the second half of the season slump. I only pray they have learned the lesson of season one and don’t get rid of Mariah anytime soon.
Harlem may only be able to handle one devil at a time, but she’s the one we wanna keep.
Luke Cage returns to Netflix June 22nd.
(image: Netflix)
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