Season 2 of Marvel's Luke Cage has added two new actors to its cast. The first season of Luke Cage premiered on Netflix late last year, as the third original series to come from both Marvel and the streaming service. And similar to the first two seasons of Daredevil and the first season of Jessica Jones (where Mike Colter first made his debut as the character opposite Krysten Ritter's Jones), the first season of Luke Cage was met with mostly positive reviews from both fans and critics alike - with a tone, style, and aesthetic that was completely different to any of the Marvel series that had come before it.

Colter will make his onscreen return as the character again later this year, in Marvel and Netflix's highly-anticipated The Defenders, where he'll team up for the first time with Jessica Jones, Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones), and Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock/Daredevil. But with filming for The Defenders completed, Marvel and the fans have already begun looking forward to the seasons of Netflix TV that will be released, following the event series.

Luke Cage season 2 has been filming in New York for weeks now - and in a new announcement from Marvel this afternoon, the series officially added two new members to its impressive ensemble. Mustafa Shakir (The Deuce, The Night Ofwill play John McIver, a leader that's brimming with charisma, but whose mission is focused solely on Harlem and vengeance. Additionally, Gabrielle Dennis (Rosewood, Insecure) will be playing Tilda Johnson, a talented holistic doctor with a complicated history in Harlem - and who despite always trying to stay away from trouble, always seems to find it catching back up to her.

Gabrielle Dennis Joins Luke Cage Season 2

Now, it's important to note that in the comics, Tilda Johnson is the character known as Nightshade. With Nightshade set to appear in next year's Black Panther, that throws the possibility of Dennis' character also being the character on the Luke Cage TV show into question. Dennis and Shakir are just two new members of what is shaping up to be yet another exciting ensemble for the Marvel and Netflix superhero lineup. As the report states, Mike Colter, Rosario Dawson, Alfre Woodard, Theo Rossi, and Simone Missick will all be returning for the new season. Based on leaked set photos from the show's ongoing production, it seems that Lucy Lui also has a role in Luke Cage season 2 - though nothing on that front has been confirmed, as of yet.

Very little is known right now about either the currently-filming Jessica Jones season 2 or Luke Cage's second season, aside from some possible casting and character details. However, unlike all of the other Marvel Netflix seasons to date, Luke Cage's first season had almost a wholly unhappy ending, with Luke under arrest and the show's two biggest villains, Shades (Rossi) and Mariah Dillard (Woodard), getting off scot free. So along with getting to see all of these characters return, one of the most exciting aspects of Luke Cage's second season right now, is wondering how exactly the new season will pick up from that unexpectedly troublesome ending.

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Season 2 of Luke Cage, along with new seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, will premiere sometime in 2018. Meanwhile, The Defenders premieres on Netflix on August 18 and The Punisher arrives later in 2017. Daredevil seasons 1 and 2, and the first seasons of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, are now available on Netflix.

Source: Marvel