Warning! Spoilers ahead for American Knights #1
In the latest tie-in issue to Marvel's Heroes Reborn, the typically bulletproof Luke Cage has become the Commissioner Gordon to Marvel's version of Batman. In this alternate reality, the Squadron Supreme of America have always been Earth's Mightiest Heroes, seeing as how the Avengers never assembled. However, that's not the only change. Because the SSA has always been Marvel's analogs for DC's Justice League, the rest of the Heroes Reborn reality now bears much stronger parallels to the DC Universe as well, such as Commissioner Luke Cage's rooftop partnership with Nighthawk.
In other Heroes Reborn issues, it's been revealed that Nighthawk is very much the Marvel version of Batman (albeit a Batman who never had his parents' love). Not only does Nighthawk have his own cave and car, but he used to have a Robin-type partner as well, a role filled by Sam Wilson's Falcon before he was killed by the Goblin by being thrown off a bridge, mirroring both Batman and Spider-Man's darkest stories with the deaths of Jason Todd's Robin from DC Comics and the death of Gwen Stacy. Furthermore, seeing as how Spider-Man has never existed in this reality, Nighthawk has taken on several of his villains, though they all have tweaks and twists to their characters to make them resemble classic foes from Batman's rogue's gallery.
While Luke Cage has been seen prior to American Knights #1 from writer Paul Gris, Christopher Allen, and Marc Deering, this issue is the first time readers get to truly see the working relationship between Washington D.C's police commissioner and its resident night-patrolling hero. Meeting on a rooftop just like DC's Jim Gordon and Batman, the picture is made complete with the addition of a Hawk-Signal used by Luke Cage. It's also interesting to note that Luke Cage never got his powers in this alternate reality. He's just a good man who joined the ranks of a corrupt police force, just like Commissioner Gordon.
Not only does Luke Cage manage to be surprised by Nighthawk's ability to pop out from the shadows, but it's also evident that they have a good amount of trust in one another, having worked long and well enough to see each other as friends. Likewise, when Luke Cage tries to take on the dark vigilante known as Saint on his own (a twisted version of Daredevil), he ends up in the line of fire from the aforementioned corrupt elements of his own police force. Thankfully, he was wearing an advanced bulletproof suit given to him by Nighthawk (a tease at what his life should be) which protected him long enough for Nighthawk to swoop in and protect him.
It's interesting to see a Marvel-ized version of DC's Jim Gordon and Batman, especially from characters who've rarely ever connected this strongly in the normal Marvel Universe. In any case, getting to see all of the DC parallels present themselves in Heroes Reborn in all sorts of creative ways is pretty fun, and Luke Cage working alongside Marvel's Batman is certainly a noteworthy element as the event continues.