'Luke Cage' Netflix Series Casts Frank Whaley As Character Based On Marvel Comic Books; Who Is Detective Scarfe?

Now that “Daredevil” is a hit amongst fans and “Jessica Jones” has finally set a release date, the reality of a “Luke Cage” series is starting to set in with comic book and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans. As excitement ramps up, the series continues to cast stellar talent for roles that previously only existed on the page.

The latest in Netflix’s “Luke Cage” casting news has to do with “Pulp Fiction” character actor Frank Whaley, who has joined the upcoming series in a key role. Fans may remember Whaley from his iconic scene in the Quentin Tarantino film, or from his roles in “Field of Dreams,” “Under the Dome” and, most recently, shows like “The Blacklist” and “Gotham.” According to Deadline, the 52-year-old actor will play Detective Scarfe, a “hard-nosed detective” in the third of Marvel’s upcoming “Defenders” superhero team up, which includes “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist.”

“Luke Cage” has already announced some pretty impressive casting with the recent announcements of “Sons of Anarchy” star Theo Rossi taking on the comic book villain Shades and “House of Cards” actor Mahershala Ali doing the same with the character Cottonmouth. According to ComicBook, Detective Scarfe is based on the low-level comic book character Rafael “Rafe” Scarfe, the ex-partner to the hero Misty Knight. Although it doesn’t seem like he’ll have Knight around to give him the same origin story as his comic book counterpart, given that she isn’t expected to be brought to life any time soon, his relationship to Cage isn’t based on nothing. The character is known to deal with Luke Cage regularly, often acting as the voice of reason that talks the hero out of some pretty brash and foolhardy moves.

As previously reported, Luke Cage (Mike Colter) will be introduced first during the 13-episode Netflix series “Jessica Jones” before he spins off to have a superhero standalone show all his own. Although no release date has been confirmed by Netflix, based on its plan to roll out a new show like this every six months, many believe that “Luke Cage” will come after “Jessica Jones” in 2015 and “Daredevil” Season 2 in 2016.