by Daniel Holloway via variety.com
Diversity is on the uptick in comics-inspired TV and film. When “Luke Cage” exec producer Cheo Hodari Coker declared at his show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel last year, “The world is ready for a bulletproof black man,” the crowd erupted in cheers. So did the internet. “Right before I said it, I knew what I was feeling,” Coker later told Variety. “I had said variations of it during the day. It was coming from an emotional place, but I didn’t think it was going to reverberate the way that it did. But I’m glad that it did.”
The “Luke Cage” panel came in July on the heels of widespread protests sparked by the killings of unarmed black men by white police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. When the show premiered in September, it became the first live-action series about a black superhero since 1994’s “MANTIS.” Now it’s getting some company. Next season the CW will premiere “Black Lightning,” based on the DC Comics superhero. And next year Marvel will debut “Black Panther,” the studio’s first feature with a black hero in the lead.
Social, political and business trends have converged to put black superheroes at the centers of burgeoning television and film franchises after years of being relegated to supporting status. Dan Evans, VP of creative affairs at DC Entertainment, cites the emergence of black superheroes on-screen as part of a larger trend in television and film. “There’s so many examples now, from ‘24’ to ‘The Fast and the Furious’ to ‘Creed,’” says Evans, whose office door features an oversize image of Cyborg, the black teen hero who will play a key role in the upcoming “Justice League” movie. “We’ve seen again and again that if you tell a good story with these characters, people will come.”
In superhero comics, the first appeals to underserved minority audiences came with the debuts of Black Panther (1966), Luke Cage (1972), Black Lightning (1977) and others. “These black superheroes emerge parallel to the changes in American race relations in the late 1960s with the emergence of the Black Power movement,” says Adilifu Nama, author of “Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes.” The movement’s push for equality and representation rippled through popular culture. “It wouldn’t be very sensible to think that these demands for diversity would only be in the realm of lunch counters and bus transportation.”
To read full article, go to: ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Luke Cage’ Highlight Rise of Black Superheroes | Variety
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article via eurweb.com
DC Comics drama “Black Lightning,” from executive producers Mara Brock Akil and husband/producing partner, Salim Akil (“Girlfriends,” “The Game,” “Being Mary Jane”) has moved from Fox to The CW with a formal pilot order, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Greg Berlanti, who produces several other DC properties for the CW (“Supergirl”, “The Flash”, “Arrow”) is also executive producing the project.
“Black Lightning” was one of DC Comics’ first major African-American superheroes when it debuted in 1977 from creators Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. Should the drama move to series, it would be one of the first broadcast shows to feature an African-American superhero as its lead, joining Netflix drama “Luke Cage,” which hails from Marvel Comics.
The hourlong drama will center on Jefferson Pierce, who hung up his suit and his secret identity years ago. However, with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning.
“Black Lightning” marks the first pilot pickup to come from the Akils’ overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. It was originally set up at Fox in September following a multiple-network bidding war.
Source: Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil’s DC Comics Drama ‘Black Lightning’ Lands at CW | EURweb
According to ew.com, Oscar-winning writer/producer John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) is teaming up with Marvel to develop a mysterious new TV series. The deal reportedly involves reinventing an existing Marvel superhero character or property for ABC—but all sides are staying quiet on exactly which title Ridley is adapting.
Ridley is an executive producer of ABC’s acclaimed midseason drama American Crime, which has not yet received a second season renewal. Coming off winning best adapted screenplay for 12 Years a Slave, Ridley is also a writer/producer on the 2016 big-screen update of Ben Hur.
Marvel’s aggressive expansion into television now includes four current series (ABC’s SHIELD, Agent Carter—which is on the bubble for a pickup—and Netflix’s Daredevil), plus several confirmed upcoming titles (Netflix’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, followed by the Netflix character mash-up The Defenders). Neither Marvel nor ABC would comment on the Ridley project.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Netflix and Disney’s Marvel Television announced that Cheo Hodari Coker (“Ray Donovan,” “Southland”) will serve as executive producer and showrunner of “Luke Cage,” the street-hero series slated to premiere next year.
The companies previously announced that Mike Colter (“The Good Wife,” “American Horror Story: Coven”) will play Luke Cage in the series. Colter is slated to appear in Marvel’s “A.K.A. Jessica Jones” before headlining the “Luke Cage” series.
Coker is writing the first two episodes of the series, which is slated to premiere in 2016 in all territories Netflix is available.
Coker’s feature film credits include Fox Searchlight’s Notorious B.I.G. biopic “Notorious.” He also write the book “Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G.” Coker started his career in journalism as a staff writer at the L.A. Times and contributed to Vice, Rolling Stone, Essence and others.
Marvel’s “Luke Cage” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
article by Todd Spangler via Variety.com
The companies previously announced that Mike Colter (“The Good Wife,” “American Horror Story: Coven”) will play Luke Cage in the series. Colter is slated to appear in Marvel’s “A.K.A. Jessica Jones” before headlining the “Luke Cage” series.
Coker is writing the first two episodes of the series, which is slated to premiere in 2016 in all territories Netflix is available.
Coker’s feature film credits include Fox Searchlight’s Notorious B.I.G. biopic “Notorious.” He also write the book “Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G.” Coker started his career in journalism as a staff writer at the L.A. Times and contributed to Vice, Rolling Stone, Essence and others.
Marvel’s “Luke Cage” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
article by Todd Spangler via Variety.com
According to Marvel Studios, Mike Colter has signed on to play Luke Cage in the upcoming Netflix series, “A.K.A. Jessica Jones,” starring Krysten Ritter, in 2015.
The all-new 13-episode series will follow private investigator Jessica Jones who encounters the enigmatic Luke Cage, during the course of an investigation in New York City. Cage is described as a man whose past has secrets that will dramatically alter Jessica in ways she could never have imagined. After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City.
“Mike embodies the strength, edge and depth of Luke Cage,” said Executive Producer/Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg. “We’re excited to have him bring this iconic Marvel character to life.”
“Fans have longed to see Luke Cage and in Mike we’ve found the perfect actor,” said Jeph Loeb, Executive Producer/Marvel’s Head of Television. “Viewers will get to meet Luke Cage in ‘Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones,’ and experience why he is such an important super hero in the Marvel mythos.”
Colter, who has appeared in the critically-acclaimed television series “The Good Wife” and “American Horror Story: Coven”, is currently starring in the XBox original series “Halo: Nightfall” as Jameson Locke.
“Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)