Image via Netflix
This morning, Netflix kicked our week off in high gear with the official trailer for season two of Luke Cage. It featured Luke kicking ass and speaking directly to the villains on the streets of Harlem, letting them know that he's hard to kill and won't back down. On the flipside, we're introduced to a mysterious new antagonist who goes by the name of Bushmaster and hands Luke his ass on a silver platter. Bushmaster's here to take over Harlem and, based on his ability to make Luke bleed with one devastating blow, it appears he has the tools to do so.
But who is this "Bushmaster," though? If he can go toe to toe with Luke then he has to be super-powered, which means he has a one-up on last season's excellent big bad Cottonmouth. And he doesn't appear to need fancy gadgetry (hell, he was even deflecting bullets like Luke does), which puts him miles ahead of last season's weakass secondary villain Diamondback. Despite his brief camera time in the trailer, it's clear that Bushmaster is easily the toughest person Luke has ever faced.
With season two of Luke Cage set to drop on June 22, you have enough time to bone up on the first season and get acquainted with Bushmaster. We can't help you with the former (we don't know your life like that), but we can damn sure help you with the latter. Here's a quick look at Bushmaster, the big bad from season two of Luke Cage.
He's a crime boss
Before taking on the name Bushmaster, John McIver dabbled in some shoplifting as a child, but mostly stayed low-key when it came to criminal acts. That is, until the day he beat up his brother Quincy for telling a store owner they were related after he got caught stealing. John then proceeded to beat the store owner to death.
John eventually began working as hired muscle for criminal organizations and got Quincy a gig with the crew. During his first mission, all four of Quincy's limbs were cut off by the propeller of a motorboat. After this mishap, John took off to Europe, where he eventually got heavily involved with the massive crime syndicate the Maggia.
John returned to America, looking to extend his grip stateside. He not only fell under the radar of the FBI, but his squad was infiltrated by Misty Knight, who worked undercover to dig up some dirt on McIver, who upon his return to the States started calling himself John Bushmaster.
He's just as strong as Luke Cage
Bushmaster kidnapped Noah Burnstein, who was the doctor that turned an imprisoned Carl Lucas into the Power Man Luke Cage we know today. His goal was to have Burnstein perform the same Process on him, only at a higher level, thus giving him superhuman strength and durability.
At one point in the comics, Bushmaster was thought to have been killed in an explosion during a battle with Cage. He obviously survived and the rest of Bushmaster's story was him essentially messing up his body in a number of ways trying to better Cage. Bushmaster's spirit later possessed the body of his son, Cruz Bushmaster, who became the Power Master.
Spoiler alert: Power Master got blown up, too.
His brother is Bushmaster, too
John McIver wasn't the only Bushmaster, though. Remember John's brother Quincy who's now missing his arms and legs? Well, some time later, Roxxon (who is another nefarious organization in the Marvel Comics Universe) not only gave ya man Quincy bionic arms, but he got a giant snake tail put where his legs used to be. In tribute(?) to his brother John, he took up the codename Bushmaster, eventually joining the Serpent Society alongside Diamondback, who you'll remember was the big bad from the second half of Luke Cage, season one.
Quincy's held the Bushmaster mantle ever since, but never rose to the level of "fucking with Luke Cage" that his brother did, and as of right now, there's no word on if he'll show up in Luke Cage this season or in the future.
He's played by Mustafa Shakir
If you haven't seen the work of Harlem-born Mustafa Shakir, you haven't been paying attention. He's been on everything from classic shows like New York Undercover and Law & Order to playing Big Mike on HBO's The Deuce and Victor on the HBO miniseries The Night Of.
In the past, Shakir's expressed interest in playing Blade or Spawn, but it looks like his first foray into the world of comic book television is as the Bushmaster. In 2017, Entertainment Weekly caught up with some of the creatives behind season two of Luke Cage, who are excited to hear fan reaction for Shakir's work in this season.
“Mustafa’s incredible presence and power ignited us from our first meeting," said executive producer Jeph Loeb, calling him one of the incredible additions to the cast. Based on the official trailer, it looks like Shakir is more than ready to take the fight to Luke Cage.
