Marvel’s Luke Cage casts Alfre Woodard in a key role

Our second Marvel/Netflix series, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, will premiere later this year but it will also serve as an introduction to Luke Cage (Mike Colter,) "a wrongly accused man who, granted super strength by a sabotaged experiment, escapes prison to become a superhero for hire." Luke Cage show-runner Cheo Hodari Coker is already starting to put together the cast for Luke Cage and Deadline reports that Alfre Woodard will be joining Mike Colter in Marvel's next Netflix series.

Deadline has learned that Alfre Woodard is finalizing a deal to star in Marvel's Luke Cage opposite Mike Colter. According to the character breakdown, Woodard will play Minetta, "a powerful woman in local politics who will have an impact on Luke Cage's life," however Deadline hears that she may actually be playing a version of the comic villain Black Mariah, a professional criminal and drug dealer who has been a foe to Luke Cage as well as Iron Fist.

That last tidbit might be noteworthy as Iron Fist will be the lead character of Marvel's fourth and final show with Netflix. We might be seeing a lot more crossovers as Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist move forward. This news hasn't been confirmed but it does give us a little to chew on as we wait for Marvel's Luke Cage to debut on Netflix sometime in 2016.