THE MAKING OF LUKE CAGE: A HERO FOR THIS MOMENT

A BULLETPROOF MAN HIDES OUT IN Harlem. The wrongfully convicted ex-con with superhuman strength wants to keep a low profile but soon finds himself caught between a trigger-happy crime lord and an intrepid police officer. Despite his misgivings, he uses his body to shield the neighborhood from stray bullets in the battle between cops and criminals. This makes Netflix’s newest protagonist, Luke Cage, an inherently political hero. Born in the pages of Marvel comics in 1972 during the boom in blaxploitation films, the man immune to bullets has taken on new resonance in the era of Black Lives Matter.

Superheroes don’t usually lend themselves to pointed social commentary. But the executives at Netflix and Marvel knew that bringing their first black-superhero show to the small screen would require more than awe-inspiring CGI explosions. In his first meeting with the streaming service, creator Cheo Hodari