Collider: Was there any difficulty in getting the use of the N word passed Marvel?
COKER: Well, they had some trepidation. Im not gonna front. But my whole thing was that, in using that word, I didnt want it to be comfortable. I wanted every single time that its heard for people to think about it. But I also really wanted the show to live on its own terms, from the standpoint of, this is what its like when you eavesdrop on black people talking to each other. That word will come up, at times, in certain ways, so I wanted to explore the context with which it was used. Cottonmouth uses the word differently. In Episode 2, as Luke pushes forward to becoming a hero, the word is referred to in the very beginning of the episode, and at the end, theres the history of Crispus Attucks. I wanted people to think about it in a way that they hadnt thought about it before. And at the same time, every blaxploitation movie from Shaft to bad place Up in Harlem to Black Caesar deals with power and deals with these issues, so it needed to feel like that, too. When all else fails, if everyone gets mad, they can blame me.
COLTER: We talked about it, early on. I remember talking to Cheo about it and I was adamant that Luke was not a person that used that language. He was not a person that used that word because he was bigger than that. First and foremost, hes a superhero, but weve got to define this superhero in a bigger sense than just his powers. He needs to be someone we can aspire to be, and I felt like, if he was the kind of guy that used that language all the time, like someone on the street corner who didnt respect themself or the people around them, then he had lost what he had given up. So, that was a high requirement. In this day and age, if you dont want to use that word or you choose to not use that word, youre walking a path on your own because its so accepted. Whereas for Luke, he wanted to be better than that. Hes trying to work on himself. Hes trying to change his path. So, when he does use it, it resonates because its out of frustration. He cant deal with this issue right now. Hes going through so much. At this point, he wants to unleash and retaliate with venom and hatred. Sometimes you dont know the effect of words until you hear it used on you.
COKER: I always get asked, what makes Luke Cage different than any other character? Well, hes black. Lets face it, there arent a lot of black superheroes. So, in dealing with a black superhero, youre going to deal with ugly history and the beauty of history. Hes going to have different responsibilities and different issues that, say, Captain America wouldnt have to deal with. But then again, hes going to deal with certain things that every superhero has to do. He has superhuman abilities, but we want to also emphasize the human the frailty of personality and temptations and everything else that comes with being a person. Everybody from the villains to our heroes have these moments of doubt, reflection and clarity. That was really one of the main things we really tried to do.
JEPH LOEB: While it is unapologetic about those things, that is not what the show is about. The show is about a man who is looking for redemption. The show is about the making of a hero. The fact that that man happens to be black and is in a black community is the story of Luke Cage. We could not change that story. It would be dishonest to the original creation of where it was. So, we recognize that responsibility. We recognize that, if youre going to tell the story of the first black superhero from the streets, youre going to be able to do that in a way where everyone can watch that show and go, Wow, thats the side of a story that Ive never thought about. And then, in terms of the language, thats the language of that world. Would I say that thats the language of the world of Jessica Jones or of Daredevil? No, its not. In that particular case, it wasnt even ever brought up. It was the way that those particular showrunners decided to tell those particular stories. When Cheo came to us and brought us and brought us his first script, we read it and went, Thats the way that people talk. Im not going to be apologetic about it, in any way. We are still making a show that is PG-16. Were not making an R-rated show. And so, there are certain words that youre not going to get to hear. If thats what you need, in order to watch, then thats what Deadpool was there for. From our point of view, its about what makes it real, what makes it grounded, and what makes you compelled to watch the next episode. If you get that from watching the show, awesome. If I sat here and said, How would you like to watch 13 hours of our particular soapbox on a particular issue?, youd go, I think I have something else to do with my 13 hours. With Jessica Jones, Melissa Rosenberg never wore on her arm that it was a story that happened to have, as part of the elements, what had happened to Jess and the way that men treat women. This is the same kind of them.
