Power Man. Luke Cage. Cage. Whatever he decides to call himself, the 6’6 super-strong man with the bulletproof skin has always been one of my favorite characters. I’ve always been drawn to his no-nonsense, pragmatic method of superheroing, which boils down to “punch a thing until it falls down.”
Over the years, Cage has not gone through as many costume changes as many of the other super-powered individuals crawling around the Marvel Universe, and much of what he’s worn in recent years doesn’t quite qualify as “super-hero costume.” I guess that continues the trend, as his original costume wasn’t what you would call traditional either. But again: you do not question the sartorial choices of a 6’6 super-strong man with bulletproof skin. At least, not twice.
As with many of my favorite characters, I’d be more than happy to buy them multiple times if it meant getting a complete roster of all of their distinct looks. Cage has had at least five that I’d buy without hesitation, starting with:
Bronze Age Cage
The original ToyBiz Power Man figure remains one of the better offerings from ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends run, but it represents more of a First Appearance/early years version of Cage. While I have no qualms about that, I was introduced to the character when he had decided to go with blue pants and full yellow buccaneer boots, and that’s the look I immediately picture in my head when I think Power Man. It’s the Power Man I pair up with Iron Fist with the high collar, and it’s a costume I’d love to get in Marvel Legends. I’d end up buying a second one just to repaint into his FA appearance and bring it full circle.
’90s Cage
After the initial Power Man and Iron Fist series ended, Cage went on hiatus for a while, and was brought back in his own solo title. It was a short lived series, and featured Cage wearing a distinctive red shirt/black jacket combo. The chained belt was gone, as well as the tiara. With no yellow at all, it was clear that this was intended to be a fresh start for Luke. The jacket itself was actually made bulletproof in-story (and more or less plausibly) so Luke didn’t have to buy a brand new one every time he faced down a machine gun. I’d love to add this version to the collection.
New Avengers Cage
Say what you will about Bendis (and boy do I have opinions) I can’t fault him for upping Cage’s profile the way he did. The New Avengers era saw Luke wearing mostly street clothes, bouncing back and forth between jeans and a white shirt or jeans and a black shirt, with or without a jacket. So there’s definitely a theme working here. I’d buy a white shirt and a black shirt version. That recent Netflix Cage repainted would probably do very nicely here.
Yellow Shirt cage
Ok, we’re running into a theme with ____ shirt and pants, but Cage does what Cage wants to do. I love the recent Netflix cage figure, so what I’d want here would be the same basic thing but with a more comic-styled head that doesn’t have that real-life actor feel. It’s why I wanted to buy that red-shirted SDCC set just for Cage, but didn’t, because that’s nuts.
So basically, yes, this top five seems dominated by a dude wearing a t-shirt and pants.
Upscale yellow shirt with vest and beard Cage
I am surprised by how much I like this look. There’s something sophisticated about seeing Luke Cage wearing finery while punching out punkass bad guys. And the beard is a natural progression from the goatee look he had been wearing in recent years. I love the Iron Fist costume that pairs with this era of Luke cage as well, when they’re together again, Hero-for-Hiring and whatnot. I don’t know how much of a chance this has, but I’d dig it all the same.
So that’s it. I’ll pretty much buy every Cage they throw at us, just like I’ll buy every Colossus and Wonder Man as well. Some characters I need every costume, just because.
