"Sweet Christmas!" Luke Cage Movie Already Casting?

Most people don't know the name Luke Cage. He's a Marvel superhero that rose to prominence in the 1970s as part of a tandem with his best friend, Iron Fist. He's a pulpy, streetwise character that found it's origin in blaxploitation, but has since broken beyond that to become one of Marvel's upper B-list characters in recent years.

A movie about the character has been rumored about ever since Columbia Pictures acquired the film rights back in 2003. At one point, Tyrese Gibson(Transformers) was attached to star with John Singleton(Higher Learning) to direct. Those plans seem to have fallen through, but now the LA Times is reporting that Marvel Studios is back in the Power Man business. They have reportedly begun very early talks with a "notable Hollywood star" to take over the role.

Gibson has expressed interest in the role multiple times over the last few years, so I doubt Marvel studios would brush him aside so easily. In my mind there's only one person who can combine the cheesy blaxploitation elements of the character, as well as making him cool for today's audience: Michael Jai White. All one needs to do is watch Black Dynamite to see what I'm saying. He's got the look, the cadence, the screen presence, and the action cred to knock this out of the park.