<![CDATA[io9: luke cage]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: luke cage]]> http://io9.com/tag/lukecage http://io9.com/tag/lukecage <![CDATA[Fox News Only 40 Years Too Late In Calling For Black Superheroes]]> Has President Obama paved the way for black superheroes to achieve prominence? That's the claim made by Fox News... but on the day where we see a Black Superman, have they missed the boat?

The black Superman - coincidentally, the President of the United States - appears in the opening pages of DC Comics' final issue of Final Crisis, alongside a black Wonder Woman, as various parallel Earths cross over before the universe is destroyed. The character may never be seen again, but that's not to say that comics are entirely devoid of black superheroes.
Admittedly, mainstream superhero comics do lack high-profile black heroes, and even they are usually relegated to supporting roles (DC Comics have only two black characters headlining their own books this month, both of which are spin-offs of their successful Justice League of America title, and both of which are mini-series; Marvel have three, one of which is a spin-off from X-Men, and two of which are mini-series). Both Marvel and DC are trying to address this, in an admittedly low-key way; DC by bringing back the characters from the 1990s Milestone line - a line focused on ethnic diversity - and Marvel with recent (re)launches of the War Machine and Black Panther titles. We asked friend of io9 - and blogger for comic site 4th Letter - David Brothers, who's written extensively about race in superhero comics, about the companies' current efforts:

The problem with both companies, and one which DC will fix if they can stick the landing of the Milestone relaunch, is that 99% of their black characters fit into a certain character type. There's not really a range of black characters. They have really generic hero motivations. There is some variation (Blade is like the Punisher, but more reasonable because he's killing vampires, Firestorm is a stone-cold newbie, Jakeem Thunder is a horny teenager), but the variation tends to be surface-level stuff. They don't really have the range of differences between say, Superman and Batman, or Cap and Hawkeye, or Wonder Woman and Black Canary. Instead, they're working from that Robbie Robertson archetype — good people in a bad world trying to make better. Sometimes they get a little extra sauce (like John Stewart and that corny "stay black" line from Sinestro Corps War, or any time a black character gets to go "There's no justice here, just us"), but what's the difference between Mr Terrific's personality and John Henry? The Falcon and Goliath? Luke Cage and Jakeem Thunder? Not all that much, I don't think. Both companies may be trying, but they're still coming up fairly short. Sometimes, particularly in the JSA, which has four black characters (none of which did anything of note in the mega-arc of the last two years, save for punching a fake god in the ankle or talking about being atheist after meeting a god), it feels more like lip service.

Of course, even lip service may be better that this:

Ah, the '70s.

Captain Obama ... Is It Time for a Black Comic Book Superhero? [Fox News]

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<![CDATA[The Buddy Superhero Movie Of The Century]]> Awesome Marvel superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist have both had movies in development hell for nearly a decade — so why not put them together in one movie? After all, it worked in the comics. Up-and-comer Malcolm Lee (Soul Men, The Best Man) threw his director's hat into the comic-book ring, calling a Power Man/Iron Fist movie his dream project. It could be the best buddy-hero team since Starsky and Hutch. And speaking of dream movies, Samuel L. Jackson has an important message about Iron Man 2.

When asked by Latino Review how he would pursue a Power Man-Iron Fist movie, Lee said he'd keep it in the realm of all that's just and good, by staying true to the buddy-cop system of comedy and action:

You got a white karate dude and a big blaxplotation dude. I want it to be an action-comedy.

Alas, he doesn't have an idea who he would cast in it. But Lee needs to have a pow wow with Transformers star Tyrese Gibson, who has been campaigning to fill in the yellow boots for a long tie now.

Also at the Soul Men junket was the one and only Samuel L. Jackson who confirmed that he would be playing superspy Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 more than in the first movie (though he didn't reveal how much more). But director Jon Favreau told Jackson that his appearance in the film is on track.. Apparently he isn't as expendable as Howard.

[Latino Review]

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<![CDATA[The Ultimate Blaxploitation Scifi Hero Finally Has A Movie]]> An African American man goes to prison for a crime he doesn't commit, where he's subjected to weird experiments at the hands of a scientist who tries to kill him. It could be a horror movie, but it's actually the origin of Luke Cage, comics' most famous blaxploitation hero. Transformers star Tyrese Gibson says he's still eager to play Cage in the John Singleton-directed movie version, which could also feature Cage's nemesis Diamondback. Marvel Comics' Avi Arad has said the Cage movie should be brutal enough to earn an R rating. Tyrese is still promising to bulk up to fill out that yellow shirt, telling SciFi Wire, "I'll have to do a lot of benchpressing, [because] Luke Cage is a lot to live up to." [SciFi Wire]

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<![CDATA[John Singleton To Direct Alienz n the Hood]]> Boyz n the Hood director John Singleton is set to direct his first science fiction film, Executive Order. It's typical alien-invasion fare, with a plane crash unleashing a space monster that terrorizes a snowbound small town. Still, Singleton's got the violent-action chops to make it work: his remake of Shaft may have bombed at the box office, but it was still badass. Singleton's also attached to direct the inner-city superhero film Luke Cage.

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