Luke Cage was a pretty integral part of Jessica Jones, but don't expect the same to be said of Jessica in Season 1 of Luke Cage . The latest Marvel superhero with a Netflix series may have gotten romantic with Jessica, but it's not looking promising for Jessica Jones to be in Luke Cage . While a top secret cameo from the powerful private eye isn't out of the question — actually, I'm pretty much counting on one — Luke Cage Season 1 will not include a big Jessica story line since it's time for the man with the unbreakable skin to take center stage.
Back in July, head of television for Marvel Jeph Loeb didn't want to speak about whether Jessica would be involved in Luke's series to Entertainment Weekly after the Luke Cage panel at the Television Critics Association's press tour. "I don't want to address that yet," Loeb said to EW. "I'd like people to experience the show." Yet, that doesn't mean the two characters' shows won't be interconnected in some way as Loeb said:
"What I can tell you is that the way that you saw Luke and Jessica is very much from Jessica's point of view . . . And it needed to be that way; it's Jessica's story. So, you don't get to see where he goes when he's not with her. He exists within her world. What's so exciting for us about this is we now get 13 hours of seeing what his world is and where it goes. There are a couple of things that I think after people watch this show, they'll go back and watch Jessica Jones and go, 'Oh, that's what he was talking about,' or 'That's why he was behaving that particular way.' That's the thing that's really so cool."
While it will be fun to draw all the connections to what Luke was up to on his own time during Jessica Jones, his series actually takes place after the events of Season 1 of Jessica Jones (with a little backstory thrown in there too). As Luke Cage actor Mike Colter told Time, "By the time we get to the beginning of Luke Cage, he's had time to get himself back on his feet a little bit. But he's weary of women. He's weary of trusting people."
It's understandable that Luke would be weary since after falling for Jessica, he found out that she was responsible for killing his wife Reva (while under the control of Kilgrave). To top it off, Jessica had known that Reva was Luke's wife and kept her involvement in Reva's death a secret from Luke while they were sleeping together. Luke got some unintentional revenge on Jessica when Kilgrave took over his mind to manipulate her, but their relationship was still strained after an epic battle between these two superheroes. Considering Luke walked out of her apartment after he healed from Jessica shooting him in the head (it was Kilgrave's fault!), if Jessica is going to reenter Luke's life on his show, it's most likely going to take place on his terms.
One character that is making the crossover from Jessica Jones to Luke Cage (besides Luke, obviously) is Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple, who has been in Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and now, Luke Cage. Claire and Luke met at the end of Jessica Jones Season 1 when she saved his life from that bullet to the head. She was prominently featured in both trailers for Luke Cage, so this nurse is going to be an essential ally for Luke and has seen how much Jessica cares for him firsthand.
While Luke hanging out with Claire might not offer much consolation for people who want Luke and Jessica to get back together, it is a good reminder that the Netflix Marvel world is a small one and Jessica and Luke are bound to reunite at some point if not in Season 1 of Luke Cage. Jessica admitted her serious feelings for Luke while he was unconscious during her show and in the comics, Luke and Jessica eventually get married and have a child together, so their interactions are far from over — even if Krysten Ritter doesn't show her face in Luke Cage.
I'm still going to hold out hope that Jessica will appear briefly in Luke Cage, but at the very least, Luke and Jessica will need to get past their history together for when Netflix premieres its other Marvel series The Defenders — so continue keeping the faith for this pair of dysfunctional (and crazy powerful) lovebirds.
Images: Netflix (2), Myles Aronowitz/Netflix
