Luke Cage was born and raised on the streets of Harlem, New York where he went by the name of Carl Lucas. Much of his time was spent as a member of a gang known as the Rivals. Over time he came to understand how his actions were hurting his family and chose to better himself by leaving the criminal world and become an honest and decent person. However he was betrayed by a former friend who framed Cage for possession of heroin. After frequent altercations and escape attempts while in prison, Cage was transferred to Seagate Prison. There he was recruited by a research scientist named Dr. Noah Burstein for an experimental cellular regeneration process based on a variant of the Super-Soldier formula. However rather than grant Cage immunity from diseases as was initially intended, he was endowed with steel-hard skin and his physical strength was greatly enhanced as well. Cage used these abilities to escape from Seagate and changed his name from Carl Lucas to Luke Cage. As Luke Cage, he donned a costume and started the Hero-for-Hire business.

Throughout this time Cage came into contact with various heroes and villains. One encounter in particular with the hero Iron Fist became an important moment as the two would go on to become partners as the Heroes-for-Hire. Their group would grow with various members coming and going, but Luke Cage and Iron Fist were always the heart of the organization. Recently Cage had begun a relationship with Jessica Jones, a former costumed hero as well. The two have since been married and gave birth to their first child Danielle. Luke Cage was also a part of Nick Fury’s covert team that infiltrated Latveria during the Secret War and during Marvel’s Civil War he sided with Captain America becoming the second-in-command of the Anti-Registration forces. He was also invited to join the New Avengers prior to the Civil War and has assumed the leadership role following the death of the original Captain America.

As a result of the experiment in prison, Luke Cage’s skin and muscle tissue is extremely dense and virtually impenetrable. His skin is as hard as titanium allowing him to resist all sorts of injuries as well as extremes in temperature and pressure. Among the only things capable of damaging Cage is Adamantium. The experiment has also enhanced Luke Cage’s ability to heal from injuries. Along with his abilities, Cage is an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant. He has developed his own street-fighting skills and while working with Iron Fist he has gained knowledge in various martial arts making him even more effective in combat.

The first Marvel Ultimate Alliance featured Luke Cage simply as a playable character, but his role in the Ultimate Alliance 2 will be somewhat greater. As in the Civil War comic, he will be Captain America’s lieutenant and therefore only playable as a member of the Anti-Registration forces. In Ultimate Alliance Luke Cage was a tank and his attacks focused on dealing large amounts of damage. Chain Strike was an attack using a chain to strike at multiple enemies. Hammer Toss was a hilarious attack where Cage would grab an enemy and swing them around before throwing them aside. If there’s one aspect of Luke Cage that could use improvement, it’s his costumes. Outside of his Power Man outfit, Cage had 3 costumes consisting simply of street clothes. Granted the man has but a handful of costumes in his closet, still that doesn’t mean you can’t put a little flair into his outfits. Thankfully his Ultimate Alliance 2 character model is already benefiting from the graphical improvements going into the game.