The 'Luke Cage' Opening Credits Are Mesmerizing

Episodes of Marvel and Netflix's newest series might not premiere until Friday, but fans don't have to wait that long for a glimpse at Luke Cage's opening credits. On Thursday, the Luke Cage Twitter released an intro sequence for the superhero show, complete with the caption: "Justice may be blind, but tomorrow it becomes unbreakable." The opening sequence clocks in at about one minute and 10 seconds, but much like the openers for Netflix and Marvel's other two shows ( Jessica Jones and Daredevil) those seconds are not only impeccably crafted, they're also necessary for properly setting up the show's tone.

As Luke Cage's credits shift between images of New York's skyline to particular intersections in Harlem, to close ups of Luke's body, the pieces start coming together. Geographical renderings mixed with tight shots of Luke's unclothed body highlight one of the series's core aspects — the interconnectedness of Luke and his city, Harlem. In the final moments, shots of Harlem's buildings, the subway, and the Apollo theater are all capped by Luke's fist, which collides with a wall to reveal the show's title. And all of it is tinted in Luke's signature color — yellow.

Then, there's the opening credit music, a clear callback to '70s funk, the era in which Luke Cage the comic book character was initially introduced. There are hints of jazz and hip-hop, the latter of which was hugely influential in the creation of Luke Cage. According to Entertainment Weekly, said genre was essential to executive producer and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker's imaging of the series. Coker said, "it’s got a ’90s hip-hop vibe, but it’s really forward-thinking. We have Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad [of the hip hop group A Tribe called Quest] doing the scoring for us." Earlier this year, Coker discussed how Luke Cage was a "Wu Tang-ification of the Marvel universe." Additionally, every episode of Luke Cage named after a song by the '80s hip hop duo Gang Starr.

The Luke Cage title sequence follows the same type of montage earlier established by Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones was saturated with purple and paired with a soft jazz beat that heightened intensity toward the end. Daredevil's was dripping with red and electro-sinister composition to match. Similarly, Luke Cage's opening credits serve as an indicator for what the series has to offer. I'm talking about music, so ingrained that it's essentially woven into the the fabric of the show. In only 70 seconds.

Images: Netflix