The upcoming second season of Luke Cage will feature a very special guest: Danny Rand. Misty Knight is set to appear in the second season of Iron Fist and she may have Luke in tow. Both instances hint that Luke and Danny are about to form Heroes for Hire. Avid Marvel fans will immediately recognize this moniker as one of the most iconic team-ups in the comics.
This comic series sees Luke Cage (aka Power Man) and Iron Fist forming the titular private investigation and protection business. It’s the next logical next step in the relationship between the Netflix versions of Luke and Danny given that they finally hit it off by the end of The Defenders. But now, it looks like their friendship is about to grow even stronger. Here are five awesome stories starring Marvel’s resident buddy cop duo that would make great storylines for a possible Heroes for Hire miniseries.
The Untouchable!
A Heroes for Hire miniseries would do well with sticking to the basics. Luke and Danny are akin to a couple of superpowered cops helping to protect New York’s streets. The Untouchable! story is a prime example as it has the benefit of starring one of their more formidable adversaries, Unus the Untouchable. Stopping Unus’s string of petty crimes requires the duo to use strategy so they can break past his invisible force field.
Lawyer and businessman, Jeryn Hogarth, is consistently trying to steer the heroes towards higher caliber cases. However, in this story, it becomes a point of contention. It would be interesting to see how this conflict would be handled in the miniseries, given the character’s gender swap in the Netflix series’. It’s important that the miniseries shows what the Heroes for Hire do best, and this story has got it all.
The Boys Are Back
In The Boys Are Back storyline, a new form of magic threatens the streets of New York. Jennie Royce tricks Power Man and Iron Fist into helping her recover the Supersoul stone, which contains a powerful street-based magic. Luke and Danny are rousted out of their comfort zone as they team up with Señor Mágico in combating this threat.
This story opens the door for introducing more mystical elements into the MCU. We’ve seen some of this already in learning about K’un-Lun in Iron Fist’s first season, so The Boys Are Back storyline would be ideal for building it further.
Harlem Burns
When you have a turf war between some of Marvel’s greatest crime bosses, it’s a recipe for disaster. The Harlem Burns story sees Cottonmouth, Mariah Dillard, Black Cat, Tombstone, Mr. Fish, and Piranha all vying to rule crime in the famed New York neighborhood. Luke and Danny are in over their heads as they work to end this war and protect Harlem’s innocent.
The volume of crime that Mariah and Cottonmouth orchestrated alone threatened to tear Harlem apart in Luke Cage’s first season. Imagine how much worse things could get with all these crime bosses warring with each other. It’d be great seeing an adaptation of this story including Wilson Fisk. If ever there was Heroes for Hire story with an impressive roster of formidable villains, this is it.
Doombringer and The Armageddon Game
Doombringer and The Armageddon Game are the perfect stories for anyone hoping to see the Heroes for Hire take their heroics international. In these stories, Luke and Danny uncover a complex plot that threatens to destabilize the Middle East and ignite World War III. It’s a race against the clock as the heroes must thwart a dangerous assassin, expose a corrupt corporation, and force the leaders of rival nations to broker peace.
This story could serve as an interesting commentary on world events and international politics. Ambitious storylines like this have normally been associated with heroes used to dealing with more top-tier threats. An event like this would see Luke and Danny catching the attention of the Avengers as they look for new recruits.
Peril from the Past, The Deadly Secret, and Soul Games!
The story arc that comprises Peril from the Past, The Deadly Secret, and Soul Games! is a classic Heroes for Hire tale ideal for an adaptation. Luke and Danny learn that Shades, Comanche, and Ward Meachum have stolen the Power Gem of Quon. Exposing their crime will first require them to defeat Master Khan, whom the gem has summoned back to Earth from K’un-Lun.
For fans of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, this is one of the best stories to serve as the basis for a Heroes for Hire series. Several characters already introduced in both shows would be present, including Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, and Jeri Hogarth. Given that both the relationship and personalities of Joy and Ward Meachum differ in the MCU versus the comics, it would be interesting to see how they would fit into this story.
Best of all, it would be awesome seeing Luke and Danny fighting side by side against archenemies like Shades and Master Khan that they might normally face alone. A Heroes for Hire series should have strong crossover potential and this story dishes it out in spades.
Season 2 of Luke Cage will begin streaming on Netflix on June 22. Season 2 of Iron Fist is currently in development.