Mahershala Ali Chats About His Character in Luke Cage. Mahershala Ali is about to enter a whole new world with his latest gig as villain Cornell Stokes AKA Cottonmouth for the upcoming Netflix series Luke Cage. The actor discusses his new role and the importance of diversity in comics.
People may have seen Mahershala Ali in TV and film but probably aren’t familiar with his name. He has been featured on House of Cards, Treme, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay as well as his latest release Free State of Jones. Speaking with USA Today while promoting his new film, the actor touched on his collaboration with Marvel on Luke Cage where he plays a villain described as a “Godfather-Mafioso type”. Ali mostly talked about the importance of this diverse cast and Mike Colter playing an African-American superhero. Here’s what the actor said:
There are going to be so many kids out there who get to see a black man on that screen and aspire to be like him. We didn’t have that. They get to be included. When I grew up, it was a lie to us that you could be anything you wanted to be. Because we knew we couldn’t be president. What this generation has is President Obama — he’s a superhero for us. And I think that might be hard for people to really embrace and understand.
Luke Cage drops on Netflix on September 30th. Are you guys excited to see Ali as Cottonmouth?
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