Following in the thrilling footsteps of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Netflix‘s latest superhero series Marvel’s Luke Cage unfolds a rich adventure, full of complex criminals, biting banter, and a super-powered protagonist with a heartbreaking and twisted backstory. When this MCU spinoff hit Netflix at the end of September, we devoured it greedily. But even those who’d been doggedly tracking the show’s production might have been thrown for a loop with episode seven, and the subsequent reveal of Erik LaRay Harvey‘s top-secret role.
Spoilers for Marvel’s Luke Cage follow.
The show’s creator Cheo Hodari Coker stunned viewers halfway through season one, when the big bad Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali) is literally thrown over, paving way for a new, more personally invested villain. Enter Willis ‘Diamondback‘ Stryker (Erik LaRay Harvey), Cage’s scorned half-brother who swaggered onto the scene oozing menace, a dazzling yet disturbing smile, and spouting poetic threats, like, “You speak to me as if you’re not in the presence of death.”
With all of season one’s secrets now revealed, Nerdist sat down with Harvey to discuss what it was like scoring a hush-hush Marvel role, how he brought the venomous Diamondback to life, and how this take on the fierce foe is different from the ones comic book fans might know. Plus, we ponder why it is that Marvel’s TV villains seem to be solidly besting their big screen baddies. The Boardwalk Empire star explains how the MCU franchise is like a killer rock show. And you know we asked about season two.
What was your favorite part of Marvel’s Luke Cage? Let us know in comments.
Image: Netflix
