The Luke Cage ending wasn’t exactly a happy one. All charges against Luke have been dropped and he’s finally recognized as a hero in Harlem, but now he’s in fed custody for escaping Seagate Prison during his Carl Lucas days. Even though Black Mariah and Shades are still running the streets, the immediate dangers threatening Harlem are gone. Cottonmouth is dead and Willis Stryker (aka Diamondback) will soon be behind bars… or will he?
The final moments of Luke Cage saw Dr. Noah Burstein’s return, but he didn’t come for Luke. He came for Diamondback, who is barely alive in a hospital bed. Burstein, still trying to figure out how his experiment was a success, was probably super hype to learn a subject who shares Luke’s DNA is up for grabs. Since he recovered those Seagate files from back in the day, doc has everything he needs to recreate the experiment that gave Luke his powers.
As test subject #2, Diamondback’s abilities could even be more powerful than Luke’s. If Diamondback’s skin can even stop those special bullets that nearly killed Luke midway through the season, the power-hungry villain could be unstoppable. His fighting skills match Luke’s and with some extra power behind his punch, Diamondback could definitely be a force to be reckoned with if he comes out of the shadows to play with his new abilities in Season 2. He’s already had some ‘super’ practice with a power suit developed by Hammer Industries, Tony Stark’s competitor. The suit, and gloves in particular, give him superhuman strength and durability matching Luke’s abilities. Needless to say, he probably won’t be needing the Hammer suit anymore.
It may have taken most of the first season, but it was finally revealed Diamondback and Luke Cage are more than just childhood best friends -- they’re half brothers -- with a tumultuous history to say the least. Diamondback has sought revenge on Luke, and his father, ever since he and Luke got arrested for stealing a Corvette. Luke’s dad cut a deal for Luke to join the marines, but left his bastard son to rot behind bars. Luke went on to become a police officer in Savannah, GA while Diamondback served additional time for killing someone out of self defense in juvie.
That’s one of the reasons Diamondback set up Luke, ruining his career and sending him to Seagate prison. We still don’t know exactly what went down, but we’ll probably find out next season since Bobby Fish has his hands on those old files that can supposedly exonerate Luke of all crimes from his days as Carl Lucas back in Savannah.
Since Marvel-Netflix’s take on Luke Cage and his origins are significantly different from the comics, anything is possible. Do you think Burstein’s experiment on Diamondback will be a success? Let us know in the comments below!
