Luke Cage Producer Weighs in Perfectly on “Cancelled Too Soon” Poll

Every television fan has one, a series that was cancelled too soon, a beloved show that deserved more seasons or episodes than it got. The idea that some shows are cancelled well before their time is one that pops up fairly frequently with various polls and questions on social media — including a recent one by music publicist Eric Alper who simply asked: “what TV show should’ve gotten more seasons?” Well, now Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker is weighing in and he has an absolutely perfect response for which show he thinks was gone too soon.

In response to Alper’s poll, Coker invoked Luke Cage’s famous catchphrase to express that it is his Netflix series that he feels was cancelled too soon.

“Hmmmm. Need to think about that one,” Coker wrote. “Sweet Christmas, what a conundrum….”

Luke Cage ran for two seasons on Netflix before it was cancelled on October 19, 2018. Ultimately all of Marvel’s Netflix series — Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and even The Defenders miniseries — were cancelled but for Luke Cage fans, the series really ended in a spot that left them wanting more with Luke (Mike Colter) seemingly poised to be a gangster. What was next for the character and the series is something that Coker has spoken about before, telling TV Guide last year that he had a plan for the series that would have seen the character come full circle.

“It was crazy because we were hitting all these things that are happening in the press right now,” Coker said at the time. “I can’t on the record talk about what we had planned because, contractually, you know, I still don’t want any Marvel assassins coming out of the woodwork to try to take me out. [Laughs] But what I can say is that we had a very good season planned, and it was one that I think would have brought Luke Cage as a character full circle.”

Coker continued, ”You see people online that were like, ‘Oh my god, I turned Luke into a gangster.’ They wouldn’t be [saying that] if they had the opportunity to see all three seasons and see the directions Luke would have gone. I was always a Luke Cage fan, but I was probably, ultimately, a Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Wolverine, X-Men Golden Era comic book fan, you know? And it wasn’t until Brian Michael Bendis rebooted Luke Cage within Jessica Jones — that [I felt liberated to] approach established characters within the Luke Cage universe from a different perspective. …”

Both seasons of Luke Cage are streaming on Netflix.