Mike Colter first played Power Man in Jessica Jones and later took centre stage on Netflix in two seasons of his solo series, Luke Cage. The actor also reprised the role in The Defenders, delivering a take on the hero that was well-received by comic book fans.
Some questionable creative decisions were made in Luke Cage season 2, and the hero's story ended with him becoming Harlem's new crime boss. That cliffhanger was left unresolved, and while it was a controversial direction to take the hero in, the show's first season remains one of Marvel Television's best-reviewed titles.
Marvel Studios has since regained the rights to the Marvel Television characters who appeared on Netflix, with Matt Murdock a clear priority for the MCU. The plan had been for Daredevil: Born Again to be a clean break from what we saw in the mid-2010s, but that changed during a creative overhaul, and those series are now—mostly—considered "canon."
Krysten Ritter is confirmed to reprise her role as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again, but, for the time being, Luke Cage and Iron Fist remain on the shelf.
Talking at the Edmonton Expo this past weekend, Colter was asked (via Agents of Fandom) when he could show up as Luke again. "I don’t know why people keep asking me this. There are no signs," he replied. "It’s not like they’ve just recently revived one of the Marvel Netflix shows."
It's pretty obvious what he's teasing here as he references Daredevil: Born Again being a revival of Daredevil, and this response is in stark contrast to how dismissive he was about playing Luke again following the show's initial cancellation in 2018.
Elsewhere during this Q&A, Colter indicated that he'd rather see Luke remain a street-level hero rather than take on a universe-ending threat like Thanos. "Did you see what they did to Hulk? Come on, man, if they're gonna do that to Hulk, they’d have Thanos absolutely wipe the floor with Luke," he told attendees.
So, while we probably won't see Luke battle Doctor Doom in the next Avengers movies, it is looking increasingly likely that he'll reunite with the Man Without Fear in either Daredevil: Born Again season 2 or the recently announced third season.
"I still have hopes for it," Colter said of a possible MCU return back in March. "I don't think about it anymore. I think there's always time. I don't think it's impossible. Anything can happen."
Last year, he talked more about where the land lies with Power Man. "I would love to explore it, if they found some story, some way, somewhere, to take it. And I'm happy that Charlie Cox and those are getting it rebooted, but I don't have any [idea if Luke Cage is getting rebooted]. I'm not holding anything back."
"I think that's the right move," Colter said of Daredevil: Born Again, which serves as Daredevil season 4. "They should have never tried [to reboot it.] No, no, I don't know what that was about. I'm like, 'Well, yeah, duh,' It was not broke, so don't fix it."
In related Defenders news, Royce Johnson appears to have shared a first look at his return as Detective Brett Mahoney in Daredevil: Born Again season 2.