'Luke Cage' Creator Responds to Criticism Over Lack of White Villains

Cheo Hodari Coker, the creator of the Netflix Luke Cage series, has taken to social media to respond to backlash he received over the show’s depiction of race.

via: Complex

A fan was upset that Luke Cage was fighting more Black people than white people in the Netflix series of the same name.

“Obviously, Luke Cage was created in the 1970s, but did y’all [peep] how the Marvel series depicted him having to fight more Black people to save Harlem than white villains?” an X user wrote, adding, “I did.”

Show creator Cheo Hodari Coker responded to the tweet with a joke: “I was trying to keep Black people gainfully employed. LOL. Just saying.”

To his surprise, his response was a hit. At the time of this writing, his tweet now has 100,000 likes and 11 million views, which prompted him to follow up. “Can’t believe how viral this went,” he wrote.

Coker responded to another fan who was on his side. “If [Cage] was only fighting white people, they would complain that there are too many white folks in Harlem,” the X user wrote.

“A white person didn’t have a speaking part for 13 minutes and major dialogue until minute 29,” Coker replied. “People actually complained. Scarfe’s scene in the club got cut, so it wasn’t even intentional.”

No shade to white people, but can black centered shows have their own villains without white characters invading black spaces?

Black-centered shows are few and far between these days, and if a show like Luke Cage wants to focus on black characters including the villians beign black, then so be it. I guarantee you those same people complaining about the lack of white characters on black TV shows don't even have that same energy when it comes to the lack of black or even POC representation on white-centered shows.

While I am glad Daredevil is being revived on Disney+ with the possibility of The Punisher getting a revival as well, I sincerely hope they decide to give Luke Cage another go-round.