Warning: Spoilers for Luke Cage: Gang War #1!The new masked identity for Luke Cage drastically changes how he views masked identities. Traditionally, Cage has been against the idea of having a secret identity, not just for himself, but for anyone. The newest developments in his life within the Marvel Universe are forcing him to have a change in attitude.
His mindset officially changes in Luke Cage: Gang War #1 by Rodney Barnes, Ramon F. Bachs, Andrew Dalhouse, and VC’s Travis Lanham. The issue marks the debut of Luke Cage’s new costumed identity, something that neither himself nor readers ever thought he’d have.
In a time when it is close to impossible to be a vigilante in New York, especially for Luke Cage as the mayor, he’s slowly learning how much of a necessity secret identities are.
Luke Cage Fails As New York’s Mayor Because He’s a Politician, Not a Hero
Luke Cage pretends to be a politician instead of the hero he was always meant to be – and he is judged for it by the God of Celestials.
Luke Cage Debuts a New Masked Identity
Ever since winning the seat for Mayor of New York City, Luke Cage has struggled to navigate the anti-superhero laws incorporated by previous mayor, Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk. He reaches the pinnacle of those frustrations in this issue when Mayor Cage tries to stop a bank heist, but a police officer threatens to shoot and arrest him because doing so will go against those anti-vigilante laws. Mayor Cage has reached his boiling point, and to work around them without threatening his seat in office, he adopts a new masked identity with a costume created by Miss Estelle.
What’s interesting about Luke Cage taking up a mask and a secret identity is that it goes against the ethics that the character has stood by for so many years. It’s hard not to look at where Luke Cage is now and not think of panels from the past like those in Daredevil #43 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Matt Hollingsworth, and Cory Petit. Here, Cage can be seen not only pushing his anti-mask rhetoric on Matt Murdock, but he’s venomously criticizing him for the lying he’s telling to keep his Daredevil identity a secret.
Luke Cage Understands Now How Complicated Secret Identities Are
Luke Cage isn’t so much going back on old words as much as he’s realizing now how the concept of a secret identity isn’t as black and white as he made it seem in the past. He was always certain that refusing a masked identity was his way of being truthful, giving his neighborhood a front-facing hero they could trust. Being such a front-facing poster child now puts both himself and other heroes in danger. He even acknowledges how complicated this is later on in Luke Cage Gang War #1 in his encounter with Cloak and Dagger. Cloak acknowledges he never knew Cage to wear a costume, to which Cage says, “The moment requires me to color between the lines.” Luke Cage understands now that the battle lines between superheroes and the public have been drawn, and until he can better navigate those lines, he must operate in secret as the kind of vigilante New York hates.
