Harlem's first Marvel superhero has debuted on Netflix and those who have started watching the series will recognize a lot of blocks in Harlem. Lenox Avenue is the shining star since the corner of 119th Street in the Mount Morris Park Historic District happens to be Luke Cage's favorite spot in the neighborhood.
Pop's Barber Shop is a fictional storefront in a very real uptown location that has a large majority of scenes in the first half of the storyline and this is probably the most extensive neighborhood show on Harlem in recent memories. A lot of research was put in to getting the local scenery right and the characters correctly say Lenox Avenue instead of Malcolm X which is really how most uptowners speak.
Everything appears to be current with green cabs in the background but the action is all set place in a timeline that seems more like the movie American Gangster than 2016. This makes sense since the comic book series was conceived during the Blaxploitation film era and the storyline now is a modern version of the genre but with a conscience. Luke Cage not only battles the local mafias but also tries to engage some of the wayward souls met along the way to respect the history of the neighborhood. There is also a lot great symbolic imagery from what we can see so far and more on those visual details will be featured in future post.
Check out our first story on Harlem's Captain America in our past post:
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