Luke Cage Season 2 Casts Antonique Smith As A New Character

Screen Rant

By Matthew Erao

Published Apr 13, 2018

Singer and actor Antonique Smith has officially joined the cast of Luke Cage season 2, where she'll play a rival detective from Misty Knight's past.

Singer and up-and-coming actress Antonique Smith has joined Luke Cage season 2, where she'll be butting heads with Misty Knight. With Jessica Jones season 2 already in the rear-view, Marvel fans can next look forward to Luke Cage returning to Netflix this summer. A Luke Cage season 2 teaser was recently released to announce the show's premiere date, and it shouldn't be long until a full look at the series is rolled out. Luckily, quite a bit is already known about the season.

When Luke Cage returns, he'll be facing some old and new enemies. Luke Cage season 2 has a new villain on top of the return of Shades and Mariah Dillard. Good thing for Harlem's resident superhero, he'll have some help as well. Danny Rand will be appearing in the new season to lend the Iron Fist's strength to Luke's cause, and Misty Knight will return with her new cybernetic arm. And while Luke will have his own journey this year, the new season will also continue to flesh out the supporting cast - meaning Misty will have a new conflict of her own.

Black Film is reporting that Antonique Smith has joined Luke Cage season 2 as a new character called Nandi Tyler. Smith's character will be a detective who takes over Misty's beat after the latter cop lost her arm in The Defenders. And according to the report, that won't be the only source of tension between the two. Tyler and Misty are said to go way back and have known (and disliked) each other since high school.

Antonique Smith as Faith Evans in Notorious

Smith has made quite a name for herself in the world of music, but she's also slowly gaining steam as an actress. In fact, she's already worked with Luke Cage creator and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker on the movie Notorious (which he co-wrote), where she portrayed R&B singer Faith Evans. The role of Tyler looks to be a sizable one, however, so it could help boost Smith's career in a big way.

Along with an exploration of Misty's past, audiences will also learn more about Luke's upbringing. Iconic actor Reg. E. Cathey plays Luke's father in the upcoming season, which ended up being one of his last roles before he passed away earlier this year. It will be a bittersweet moment seeing the actor on the screen one last time, and it should only add to the complex nature of Luke's relationship with his father.

Beyond the casting updates, the involvement of Iron Fist in Luke Cage has fans once again pondering whether a Heroes for Hire show could happen. For his part, Coker is game, but Luke Cage's Mike Colter isn't sure about Heroes for Hire. Then again, we've heard different in the past, so fans will just have to wait until this summer to see if the show is set up.