With Daredevil set to premiere in a little over a week and AKA Jessica Jones in production, the third Netflix/Marvel partnership has now found a showrunner to foster the Luke Cage series into reality. Marvel.com has named Cheo Hodari Coker as showrunner on the untitled Luke Cage series which is set to feature Mike Colter in the lead role.
Hoker's name does not immediately ring bells like some other popular showrunners out there, but he has worked as executive producer on both Showtime's Ray Donovan and the cop series Southland. Coker has written for various magazines as well as the film NOTORIOUS about the rapper Biggie Smalls. He also won a 2013 NAACP Image Award for his writing on Southland.
Marvel is looking for showrunners who meet the vision of each of their series. While this does not mean that a woman needed to run AKA Jessica Jones or an African-American needs to shepherd Luke Cage, it does show that diversity is a priority as the studio expands the scope of their projects. I don't expect any of these series to cater to a particular demographic but they will have target audiences that can be enhanced with the right perspective from behind the scenes.
There have not been further announcements as to casting for the Luke Cage series, but with Coker on board I would anticipate more news soon. The series is tentatively slated to debut in 2016.
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