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LUKE CAGE Will Be Like THE WIRE, Producer Says

For what seemed like 62 years, people told me I needed to watch HBO’s beloved but canceled crime series The Wire, and for a good long time I resisted. Then, finally, my ability to flatly refuse awesomeness withered and I watched the five seasons of gritty Baltimore cops-versus-drug-dealers-and-also-other-things shenanigans and it was amazing. Obviously. A billion people can’t be wrong. But now that it’s over, what do we have to take its place? Apparently, Marvel and Netflix‘s Luke Cage series will fit that bill.

At the premiere of Captain America: Civil War Tuesday night in Los Angeles, all of the Marvel who’s who were traipsing the red carpet and Cage‘s executive producer, Cheo Hodari Coker, teased the new series’ musical roots to Entertainment Weekly, saying it has a ’90s hip-hop vibe, but also a gritty, urban tone.

“We have a lot of different musical appearances,” said Coker, who also wrote the show’s first two episodes. “But at the same time, we’ve got the Marvel action. We’ve got drama. I would like this to be, I mean, I know this is heavy but, The Wire of Marvel television, because we really deal with a lot of different issues.”

They also, apparently, aren’t going to adhere as closely to the comic roots as either Daredevil or Jessica Jones did, like moving the action from Marvel’s favorite catch-all for the seedy parts of New York, Hell’s Kitchen, to Harlem. Star Mike Colter says to expect some other differences as well.

“We were trying not to be on the nose. We’re going to give all the fans all the things they want,” Colter said. “But we’ve got to bring it up a bit and step into the current time. So we’re going to make sure everybody’s happy, but don’t expect a yellow shirt every day. Let’s put it that way … We brought it to mustard. We started there. We knocked it down a bit. Not so bright.”

Cuz that’s what I think of when I think of Luke Cage. The brightness.

Do you think a super-powered version of The Wire will ring your Stringer Bell? Let us know in the comments below!

For more of a look at what Netflix’s Luke Cage will bring to the table, check out our rundown.

Image: Netflix/Marvel

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He also sort of wants to live in the Marvel version of New York. Is that weird? Follow him on Twitter!

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