The second season of Luke Cage finally kicked off production this past week in New York, and with it, the first batch of set photos have made their way online -- and it appears Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) are still very much together in season two.
You can check out the photos of Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple and Mike Colter's Luke Cage here.
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For fans hopeful of seeing Cage reunite with Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) to fall more in line with the comics, these images are sure to be a bit frustrating. However, given their chemistry on screen, seeing Claire return for (hopefully) another extended appearance in Luke Cage is sure to please many fans, as well.
Dawson's Claire Temple has quickly become a fan-favorite over the years, showing up in each individual series acting as the Nick Fury of the Netflix Marvel Universe. However, while serving an important purpose in each series, it wasn't until the first season of Luke Cage where we truly got to explore Claire's character. Along with taking the time to develop the relationship with Claire and Cage, the series also managed to bring in her mother, Soledad Temple, played by the fantastic Sonia Braga. Whatever Claire's role is in season two, it's safe to say her and Cage are still getting coffee together and don't appear to be stopping anytime soon.
With production having finally kicked off on the second season, it's expected that season two will hit Netflix sometime in 2018 -- more likely following the launch of Jessica Jones season two, which is also currently filming in New York. According to Luke Cage himself, the show could very well return in early 2018. However, with three series expected to return next year -- Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Daredevil -- it's hard to know just how early Colter meant. After all, these shows usually film for about five months, and then they need a few months in post to ready the season for release, meaning an April release doesn't necessarily sound too far off for the return of Luke Cage.
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Luke Cage season two has only just begun production, but fans can get their Cage fix when Colter reprises his role in The Defenders. Arriving Aug. 18 on Netflix, the eight-episode crossover series also stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchios and Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra.