Marvel Television and Netflix have announced that Mustafa Shakir (The Deuce, The Night Of) and Gabrielle Dennis (Rosewood) have joined the season 2 cast of Marvel’s Luke Cage, set to premiere in 2018.
Shakir has been cast to play John McIver, described as a natural leader, brimming with charisma, whose mission is focused on Harlem and vengeance.
Dennis will play the role of Tilda Johnson, who is described as a brilliant, holistic doctor with a complicated history in Harlem where, as much as she tries to stay far from trouble, it seems to always find her.
These names will ring familiar to Marvel fans as the real names of two supervillains, Bushmaster and Nightshade.
However, we still aren’t certain if these are the exact incarnations of the characters that we’ll see on Marvel’s Luke Cage. Plus, Actress Nabiyah Be revealed on Twitter in a now-deleted tweet that she would portray “Tilda Johnson” in Black Panther, who seems to be the woman helping bust Klaw out of the interrogation room.
Will there be two Tilda Johnsons in the MCU? I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
“Mustafa’s incredible presence and power ignited us from our first meeting, and Gabrielle brings the charm and smarts to a very complicated role,” remarked executive producer, Jeph Loeb. “Both will be wonderful additions to our already magnificent cast.”
“I can’t wait for audiences to see the compelling paces we put both Mustafa and Gabrielle through,” said Marvel’s Luke Cage executive producer and showrunner, Cheo Hodari Coker. “From the moment you see each of them on screen, I feel they will be powerful additions to the world of Marvel and Harlem’s Luke Cage.”
Shakir and Dennis will join returning cast members Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard, and Theo Rossi as Shades.
Marvel’s Luke Cage is executive produced by Cheo Hodari Coker (Ray Donovan, Southland) and Aïda Croal (The Returned, True Blood) as co-executive producer, along with Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s Punisher, Marvel’s Inhumans), and Jim Chory (Marvel’s Punisher, Marvel’s Inhumans).