Luke Cage Showrunner Reacts To Disney+ Removing Actor Tribute From Credits

Disney+ is under fire as Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker reacts to the platform removing a tribute to one of the show's late actors. Prior to the Marvel Studios shows that are debuting on Disney+, there was the Marvel TV era, which was a separate division for the brand. Until it got absorbed into Kevin Feige's CCO responsibilities, Marvel TV had several shows that ran on ABC, Hulu, Freeform, and Netflix. One of the bigger things to come out of that period was The Defenders franchise, which consisted of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher.

Despite these shows having been canceled years ago, the streaming rights for Marvel's Netflix shows finally expired this year. As of March, all of the grittier Marvel series, along with Agents of SHIELD, has been added to Disney+ as part of the larger MCU library. This move came only months after the MCU began to include Daredevil characters in both Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home, through Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin and Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock, respectively. This is now allowing those properties to get a whole new audience to tune in for the first time.

However, it appears that the move to Disney+ hasn't been completely smooth as some would think. Cheo Hodari Coker, who was the showrunner of Luke Cage, took to Twitter to react to the Disney-branded service removing a tribute to cast member Reg E. Cathey. The 59-year-old actor, who sadly passed away in February 2018, portrayed Luke's father, James Lucas. Cathey was given an In Memoriam in the credits of what ended up being the series finale for Luke Cage in 2018. However, the tribute is no longer in the Disney+ version, and Coker stressed his disappointment with this move. Coker wrote:

"I mean, why do this? Reg E Cathey was part of the heart and soul of Season Two. We didn't feel obligated to dedicate the season to him just because he died -- we felt obligated because we loved him and he was a galvanizing force."

So far, neither Disney+ nor Marvel Studios have made any statements as to why the tribute was taken out of the Luke Cage credits. This is also not the first time that Coker has commented on Luke Cage's move to Disney+, as the showrunner had concerns prior to the series leaving Netflix. In mid-February, Coker said, "I just hope they don't sit on it for years to allow for an easier reboot, or re-air it with a different mix, or the N-Word muted."

Removing a tribute to an actor who played a significant role in Luke Cage is not just a strange move; it feels callous and tone-deaf. It's even worse that no one from Marvel Studios and Disney+ has commented on why Cathey's In Memoriam segment was edited out in the first place. As Coker stated, the creative team wanted to honor their colleague who was featured in multiple Luke Cage episodes during its run. Ideally, Disney will recognize their error and restore the tribute to Cathey. Following Coker's comments, it'll be more difficult for Disney to ignore the controversy surrounding the erasure of Cathey's Luke Cage tribute.

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Source: Cheo Hodari Coker