10 Things Only Comic Book Fans Know About Luke Cage

Luke Cage gained mainstream popularity thanks to his Marvel Netflix streaming series, which had two seasons and saw the hero show up in The Defenders after that. The origin stories were similar, with Cage serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and then getting out and becoming a superhero on the streets, helping people in need.

However, Cage’s origin story in the comics differed and he was a very different hero in his early days than what the Netflix show painted him as. Cage also went through many changes in the comics, going from a man who only cared about fighting for money to a husband, father, and Avengers team leader, a genuinely respected superhero.

10 Luke Cage Was A Criminal As A Teen

In the Netflix Luke Cage series, the character was a police officer who was convicted of a crime he never committed. That is not the origin story of Luke from the Marvel comic books. In the comics, Luke was a troubled teenager who joined a gang and committed petty thefts.

However, Luke realized he was hurting his family and he pulled out of the gang, although his best friend Stryker remained in the gang while staying friends with Cage. After Stryker’s girl left him for Luke, he betrayed his friend, planting drugs in his place and had him sent to prison for a crime he never committed.

9 He Was Originally Called Power Man

When Luke escaped from prison, he began to work as a superhero and he ended up taking on a superhero moniker. He called himself Power Man. He took on the name because he wanted to use a superhero name that signified his powers, and he was super strong with incredible durability, so he called himself Power Man.

Luke Cage also isn’t his real name, as that is Carl Lucas. After working as Power Man for years, and even having a comic titled Power Man and Iron Fist, he ended up losing the moniker and just going by Luke Cage.

8 Luke Cage Founded Heroes For Hire

When Luke Cage began to operate as a superhero, he got an idea to make a living using his powers. Cage started his own business called Hero For Hire and he would help anyone who had the money to pay him. It didn’t seem very heroic, but that was the point at the time.

Eventually, Cage became friends with Danny Rand, the superhero known as Iron Fist. The two hit it off and Iron Fist joined Cage’s business, and they renamed it Heroes for Hire.

7 Doctor Doom Hired Luke Cage Once

While working solo in Hero for Hire, Luke Cage took a job for the most unlikely clients. He was hired by Doctor Doom, the ruler of the foreign country of Latveria. Doom had a series of his Doombots that went rogue and disguised themselves as people. Doom wanted Luke to find them and stop them.

Luke Cage easily finished the job for Doctor Doom. However, this is when Doctor Doom left town without paying him. Luke went all the way to Latveria and attacked Doom, and wouldn’t stop fighting until he was paid the $200 he was owed.

6 Luke Cage Joined The Fantastic Four

Luke Cage has been a member of several teams in the Marvel Universe, which is unusual for someone who really doesn’t like many people. He was a member of the Defenders first, but this was Doctor Strange’s Defenders and nothing like the ones from the Netflix world. However, what many people don’t know is that he was also in the Fantastic Four.

The Thing lost his powers at one time, which was a blessing for Ben Grimm, who never wanted to be a monster. With The Thing out of the team, Luke Cage took his place as the new muscle of the group. However, he was gone just as quickly because Puppet Master turned him against his teammates.

5 He Married Jessica Jones

While working in Heroes for Hire with Iron Fist, Luke Cage met a young woman with superpowers named Jessica Jones. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’s relationship was flirtatious but they also poked each other’s buttons and argued constantly. However, this soon turned into something more serious.

Luke ran into Jessica later and the two grew close as Luke helped her cope with her abuse by Purple Man. The two began to date and then Luke finally popped the question and they ended up getting married.

4 He And Jessica Jones Have A Daughter

Jessica Jones was pregnant with Luke Cage’s daughter before they got married. Jones was actually dating Scott Lang, Ant-Man, at the time that she hooked up with Cage again and ended up pregnant. She had the baby while Luke was working in the New Avengers and the two named the child Danielle Cage, named after Danny Rand.

Danielle Cage has no powers in the mainstream Marvel Universe but in a future alternate timeline, she inherited the powers of both Luke Cage and Jessica Jones making her super strong and indestructible. She became the new Captain America.

3 Cage Was Anti-Registration During Civil War

Luke Cage has never believed that the law enforcement agencies or government were out for the people on the streets. When the government decided to create a Superhero Registration Act, and Captain America rejected the idea, Luke Cage quickly took the anti-registration side of the fight.

Luke immediately sent Jessica Jones and their daughter to Canada to get away from the war. Luke never used his powers after the act went into effect, but S.H.I.E.L.D. came to arrest him anyway for refusing to sign up with the government and he joined Cap’s side of the war as an active participant.

2 Luke Cage Helped Run The Thunderbolts

The Thunderbolts originally started as the Masters of Evil, but Baron Zemo had them pretend to be heroes after the Avengers and Fantastic Four disappeared after the battle with Onslaught. When the team decided they liked being good guys, Hawkeye took over as the leader. In the Heroic Age, Luke Cage led his own version of the team.

Steve Rogers wanted a new Thunderbolts team after Norman Osborn fell in Dark Reign and he put Luke in charge of it, knowing that Cage could relate to the former villains. His job was to help rehabilitate villains and help them become heroes.

1 Luke Cage Became An Avengers Leader

During the Civil War, the most important team in the Marvel Universe was split in half. While Iron Man and Captain America disagreed on the Superhero Registration Act and went to war, the world still needed an Avengers. Forming in this time was the Secret Avengers, with Luke serving alongside Captain America.

After the war ended, he along with the other heroes were wanted by the police and he formed the New Avengers, which was separate from the main Avengers. It was with this team that Luke came into his own as a team player and eventual team leader.

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