Harlem's Superhero: Social Interaction, Heterogeneity of Thought, and the Superhero Mission in Marvel's Luke Cage

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe essay extends previous Luke Cage scholarship by analyzing him through a discipline rarely utilized in superhero scholarship: developmental psychology. Using the Luke Cage television series, the author centers Luke Cage's relationship to Harlem. In doing so, the author explores how the relationship can elucidate both the conceptual foundations of morally‐relevant decision‐making and the ways these concepts may be applied in varied and complex social interactions–features of social life relevant to everyday persons as well as superheroes working within a fictionalized neighborhood.