List of Luke Cage characters

Luke Cage

Carl Lucas (portrayed by Mike Colter), a former convict who was given superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, now fights crime under the name Luke Cage.

By November 2014, Lance Gross, Colter, and Cleo Anthony were in contention for the role of Luke Cage, a recurring role on the series Marvel's Jessica Jones followed by a headlining role on Luke Cage. Colter was confirmed in the role the next month, as a series regular in both series. He signed on for the two shows without reading any scripts. Colter had been reluctant to sign on due to the comics depiction of the character, which he was familiar with already, saying "when I saw the tiara, all the 1970s blacksploitation stuff, I was like, 'oh my God...' But they assured me, '...we're doing a modern day version.'"

Colter discussed the differences in his portrayal in the two series, saying, "You’re not always the same person around everyone you know ... you might not necessarily behave the same way around your mom that you would with your wife or your boss or your fraternity brothers." In Jessica Jones, Cage was vulnerable and "in a bit of a freefall", but in Luke Cage "he’s trying to regroup and trying to figure out what’s his next move. And then the events that happen in the first few episodes get him going, they catapult him into action." On factoring in race when playing the character, Colter said, "The approach with the character for me is more about the human qualities and the things that make Luke Cage tick ... the writers have to then decide to bring in the race of the character, if there’s an angle there. But I don’t look at it as something I have to prep differently for ... it's more of an aside". Colter put on 30 pounds (14 kg) of muscle for the role. David Austin and Clifton Cutrary portray a young and teenage Lucas, respectively.

Describing Cage, Colter said, "He's a neighborhood hero, very much linked to New York and Jessica Jones. It's all part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Luke Cage is a darker, grittier, more tangible character than Iron Man or Thor ... He has these abilities but he’s not sure how and when to use them. Later elaborating, Colter said, "He's a renaissance man, he's trying to better himself and there's something to be said about someone who's always trying to make themselves better, trying to change." Colter noted that the character's catch phrase 'Sweet Christmas' is used in the series, saying "I was afraid of that phrase, but it actually fits so well, I don't know why, I don't know why it fits so well into Luke's mouth." The phrase is used sparingly though, with the character often "opting instead for pensive silence"; composer Adrian Younge said, "He’s a black superhero, but he’s a different type of black alpha male. He’s not bombastic. You rarely see a modern black male character who is soulful and intelligent."

Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes

Cornell Stokes (portrayed by Mahershala Ali) is the owner of the Harlem's Paradise nightclub and the cousin of Mariah Dillard, who deals in illegal operations.

Ali joined the cast as Stokes in September 2015, despite knowing that the character would die early on in the series. He compared the experience to "shooting a film, as opposed to stepping into another marriage that you never know how long is going to work out" explaining that when Netflix approached him "about Luke Cage, they gave me the arc, and for the first time, I found myself excited by a character’s departure, because I felt like this was something I could give my all to for a period of time before saying 'peace' to him... It gave me a certain freedom to try to do my best work and make peace with it once he experiences his demise." Elijah Boothe portrays a young Stokes.

Ali described Stokes as "a Godfather-type villain", while Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb referred to him as "the other hero of the story", continuing the tradition of previous Marvel Netflix villains Wilson Fisk and Kilgrave. Ali felt that Stokes is "complicated in his own way. He's somebody who goes about things in a different way than the normal person, including myself." Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, a former music journalist, said that the attitude of rapper Biggie Smalls, whom Coker had been friends with, permeates Luke Cage but particularly influenced his version of Cottonmouth. Ali, who creates mixtapes for each of the characters he portrays so "sonically, the character has a soundtrack", stated that his mixtape for Cottonmouth took into account the fact that he was from Harlem, and included songs from Big L, Diamond D, Brand Nubian, D'Angelo, Mobb Deep, Kanye West, and Erykah Badu.

Misty Knight

Mercedes Kelly "Misty" Knight (portrayed by Simone Missick) is a Detective at the 29th Precinct and partner of Rafael Scarfe with a strong sense of justice, who is determined to learn about Cage.

Missick, who was announced in the role of Knight in September 2015, described the character as "her own person. She's not the wife. She's not a girlfriend. She's not a sidepiece or a sidekick." Missick continued that Misty Knight is "a person who has a very strong moral compass who is absolutely dedicated to protecting her community", adding her proudest moment in playing the character, was the fact that she "believes in the system, even though... [with] our current times, it's difficult to believe in the system." In approaching the character, Missick chose to not read the comics to avoid the expectations of fans, and instead focus on creating her version of the character. In the series, Knight has what Missick called a "superpower" referred to as 'Misty Vision' that allows her to look at a crime scene and deduce what happened.

Shades

Hernan "Shades" Alvarez (portrayed by Theo Rossi) is a relentless, menacing, smooth and manipulative, street smart criminal working for Diamondback with ties to Cage's past.

Rossi was announced as being cast as Shades in September 2015. Loeb called Shades "kind of the Littlefinger of Luke Cage", "the ultimate opportunist". He wears sunglasses for most of the series, and used Marvel's Daredevil and Charlie Cox's acting as research, since he could not use his eyes to act, similar to Cox as Matt Murdock.

Willis Stryker / Diamondback

Willis Stryker (portrayed by Erik LaRay Harvey) is a powerful arms dealer who is Cage's half-brother and the one who framed him for the crime that sent him to Seagate Prison.

In March 2016, set photos revealed that Harvey had been cast as Stryker in the series. This was not officially announced by Marvel prior to the series' release, and Harvey agreed not to do any publicity for the show, to not "ruin the twist" of Stryker being the series' main villain. Harvey chose not to read the comics to learn more about the character in order to not "interfere with what we were trying to do and cloud my judgment," instead relying on Coker to develop the 2016 version of Stryker, including adjusting his backstory to be the half-brother of Carl Lucas. However, Coker did try to bring as much of the comics' version of the character to the series as he could, including adapting the character's comic costume into armor that allows Stryker to match Cage's super strength. Jared Kemp portrays a teenage Stryker.

Harvey talked about the character's illegitimacy, saying, "My character had been called a bastard his whole life. How does that make a person operate? How would you feel if your childhood was illegitimized and ignored and swept under a rug? That’s what drives Willis ... He gets sent away because of his father’s actions and then once he’s in the jail system, he just gets tortured. After all that, his mind’s been twisted and warped, and he’s developed this sensitivity that’s almost psychopathic." Regarding the character's fighting style, Harvey worked with the series' fight coordinator to give Stryker "quick, really fast dabs and slithers" in his movement "because he’s very elusive", given "Diamondback" is named after a species of snakes. The character is always seen smiling when killing or defaming Cage's name, which is "just his way of dealing with his pain. He smiles through his pain."

Claire Temple

Claire Temple (portrayed by Rosario Dawson) is a nurse in Hell's Kitchen, whose friendship with Cage will affect both of their lives.

In November 2015, Dawson was confirmed to be reprising her role of Temple from the previous Marvel Netflix series. "Because she plays a nurse that basically seems to be in the right place at the right time, and she's very good at helping out superheroes who are in need, and I think you will see some of that in Luke Cage," said Colter. "Ultimately I think she's going to be a very good companion for Luke. I think she's someone that Luke needs in his life at this time."

Mariah Dillard

Mariah Dillard (portrayed by Alfre Woodard) is a local councilwoman and Stokes' cousin looking to bring change to Harlem, whose life is "thrown into turmoil" by the actions of Cage and Stokes.

In August 2015, Woodard, who portrays Miriam Sharpe in the MCU film Captain America: Civil War, was in talks to join the cast, and the following month she was confirmed as a series regular, portraying Dillard. Woodard, who lives in Harlem, felt that the scripts for the episodes were some "of the smartest pieces of writing [I'd] ever come across", and was convinced to join the project after Coker proved his love of Harlem and its culture. The series' version of the character is significantly different from the comics' Black Mariah, with her portrayed as not necessarily a criminal herself, though she does feel a responsibility to her family which includes Stokes. To pay homage to her origins, Coker wanted to give the character the nickname "Black Mariah", which Woodard agreed with if it was used sensitively. The nickname is ultimately used by Stokes as a personal insult from their past growing up together, in retaliation to Dillard verbally attacking him. Megan Miller portrays a young Dillard.

Recurring characters

The following is a list of guest characters that have recurring roles throughout the series. The characters are listed by the MCU media or season in which they first appeared.

Rafael Scarfe

Rafael Scarfe (portrayed by Frank Whaley) is a hard-nosed police detective and partner of Misty Knight who is on Stokes' payroll.

Whaley's role as Scarfe was announced alongside the series' main cast in September 2015. The actor described Scarfe's relationship with Misty Knight as one with "a great deal of love and respect for each other", given that Scarfe "is Misty's mentor... [who] showed her the ropes. She had this raw talent that he, unlike other people on the force, nurtured". When Scarfe is revealed to be corrupt, he is also shown to have had a son who is now dead. Whaley said on this, "It gives the guy a certain amount of complexity ... he's a very conflicted guy and probably has a lot of issues coming into the show with some stuff in his past that led him down that road. I know that he's solid with his partner. I think he has a good heart." Whaley's portrayal of Scarfe's relationship with Misty Knight was not affected by the character's reveal of being on Stokes' payroll, as Whaley was not aware of it until an episode before it was revealed.

Bobby Fish

Bobby Fish (portrayed by Ron Cephas Jones) is a local chess master and friend of Pop and Cage's.

Domingo Colon

Domingo Colon (portrayed by Jacob Vargas) is a gang leader and business partner of Stokes.

Lonnie Wilson

Lonnie Wilson (portrayed by Darius Kaleb) is a young boy who befriends Cage.

Connie Lin

Connie Lin (portrayed by Jade Wu) is one of the owners of the Genghis Connie's restaurant below Cage's apartment.

Candace Miller

Candace Miller (portrayed by Deborah Ayorinde) is a hostess at Harlem's Paradise who Dillard uses to frame Cage for Stokes' murder.

Bailey

Bailey (portrayed by Justin Swain) is an NYPD officer focused on analytics. He becomes a partner and friend of Knight's.

Swain was cast as Bailey after a blind audition, and did not learn that the series was Luke Cage until later receiving an e-mail welcoming him to the MCU. The character of Bailey was originally going to have an introductory scene in the fifth episode establishing his relationship with Knight in the series, but the scene was ultimately cut. The script mentioned Bailey taking off his glasses in a scene, so Swain brought a pair of his wife's glasses to the set. During his first scene, Swain "was looking at something close through my wife’s prescription and I started to get dizzy", and quickly took the glasses off, which "became this character thing that Bailey did. He would look up and quickly take off his glasses."

Zip

Zip (portrayed by Jaiden Kaine) is a gangster who leads Stokes' men.

Sugar

Sugar (portrayed by Sean Ringgold) is one of Stokes' men.

Megan McLaren

Megan McLaren (portrayed by Dawn-Lyen Gardner) is a reporter for WJBP-TV.

Dave Griffith

Dave Griffith (portrayed by Jeremiah Richard Craft) is a young kid selling videos of superheroes in action.

Noah Burstein

Noah Burstein (portrayed by Michael Kostroff) is a doctor at Seagate that give Lucas his powers due to his experimentations.

Thembi Wallace

Thembi Wallace (portrayed by Tijuana Ricks) is a news reporter.

Alex

Alex (portrayed by John Clarence Stewart) is Mariah Dillard's assistant.

Priscilla Ridley

Priscilla Ridley (portrayed by Karen Pittman) is an inspector in the NYPD.

Guest characters

The following is a supplementary list of guest stars that appear in lesser roles or make significant cameo appearances. The characters are listed by the MCU media or season in which they first appeared.

Introduced in other TV series

Introduced in season one

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance through an on-set photograph, the same seen in previous Marvel Netflix series. Raphael Saadiq, d-Nice, Faith Evans, Charles Bradley, Jidenna, Dapper Dan, The Delfonics, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Sway Calloway, Heather B., Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and Fab Five Freddy all appear as themselves.