Luke Cage Versus Black Panther, Round One
By now we are all very aware of the current crusade within movie making to transfer every single character from the comic universe onto the silver screen (I’m personally still waiting for the Booster Gold, Speedball and Jubilee film treatments.) Adding to the pile comes either a Luke Cage or Black Panther movie, depending on which one John Singleton makes first.
In an interview with Blackfilm.com, Singleton expressed his long-time fandom for the Marvel universe as well as his desire to bring a film adaptation for both of the iconic (albeit historically misused) black characters.
Also revealed in the interview is that the script for Luke Cage is in place, yet from the intonation of what he’s saying I sense a struggle between him and the studio over budget. Singleton also reveals that he has also been approached to do Black Panther, so who knows which treatment we will see made first.
Conventional wisdom would say that Black Panther has more cache and “cool factor” (and is inherently less anachronistic) than even a modernized Luke Cage, and thus a much better bet for the studio and fans alike. Then again, I always considered Blade to be a very passable, average comic character and that made for a successful movie franchise even despite the poor execution.
-Kenneth England
comic, movie, Kenneth England, Black Panther, Luke Cage, John Singleton
I really cant see either one being a compelling film superhero. Neither has a very well known origin, if the general audience knows of their existence at all. Neither is my choice for future superhero films. I'd like to see a Captain America franchise, and set it in WWII ala Indiana Jones, or maybe a Dr Strange supernatural film series, even Iron Fist would be good.
Cap America and Dr. Strange would be much better picks in my opinion too. However, Black Panther has such a sleek, timeless look and I felt that the character never got the treatment that could have tapped the potential of what that character could be. Panther definitely has way more legs than Cage would as a mainstream franchise.
I love Luke Cage but i think a Captain America [Matt Damon] movie needs to be made pronto.
And sadly what could have been a great franchise, got screwed up beyond belief by ben (look at me!) afleck. I actually liked the Elektra film, and wow it built up a really strong ninja universe that shouldnt be ignored.
I was actually trying to figure out today which was the worst of the recent Marvel movie revamps.... Hulk, Daredevil or Punisher and I couldn't decide. Probably Daredevil the more I think about it, though.
I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the world who enjoyed the Hulk movie. Anyway, they already made a Luke Cage movie, it was called "Shaft".