Marvel casts Mahershala Ali for Netflix’s Luke Cage, Stephen Rider for Daredevil

By Stephanie Topacio Long September 4, 2015

Marvel keeps making casting moves for its Netflix series. The studio has just added Stephen Rider as a series regular for Daredevil‘s second season, according to Deadline, while Mahershala Ali will join upcoming show Luke Cage.

Rider, who previously starred in The Butler, will reportedly play Blake Tower, an ally of Daredevil lead character Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox). As the New York City District Attorney, Tower provides lawyer-by-day, crime-fighter-by-night Murdock with information that he uses to seek out and stop dangerous criminals.

Meanwhile, Luke Cage will feature Ali as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, a Harlem nightclub owner who causes trouble for Cage (played by Mike Colter) with his own illicit activities. Ali isn’t new to Netflix; he plays lawyer Remy Danton on the streamer’s acclaimed series House of Cards. He’s also recognizable from playing the right-hand man to the District 13 president in Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1, and he’ll be seen in Mockingjay — Part 2 when it hits theaters in November.

Marvel and Netflix have clearly not had to struggle to find talented actors with impressive credits interested in joining their pack of superhero shows. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage have all been stacked with seasoned actors, and Iron First surely will be as well. Stars of the series cast so far include Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad, Veronica Mars), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street), and more.

Jessica Jones is scheduled to debut in late 2015, with Daredevil season 2 and Luke Cage coming in 2016. Somewhere down the road, Netflix and Marvel will also introduce The Iron Fist, and will then tie all the series together in The Defenders miniseries. It pays to plan ahead.

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Stephanie Topacio Long

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Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

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