Luke Cage Season 2: Why Misty Knight's Bionic Arm Is a Game-Changer

(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 2 of Marvel's Luke Cage. Read at your own risk.)

Even as a regular human, Misty Knight was always considered something of a superhero on Marvel's Luke Cage. She graduated at the top of her class at the police academy, became a detective in record time, possesses a mental and physical toughness only seen from caped crusaders and has a near-perfect aim. Plus, her impressive "Misty Vision," in which she works out what went down at a crime scene just by looking at a photo, made her downright brilliant.

But the skilled detective found her self at her lowest point in Season 2 of the gritty Marvel series, having lost her arm at the end of The Defenders and forced to rethink the rest of her life. It's not until she receives a bionic new arm that she not only gets her swagger back, but solidifies her status as a bonafied superhero. The upgrade brings her one step closer to becoming the fully-realized version of the iconic character we know and love in the comics.

TV Guide hit up Simone Missick to discuss her character's journey this season from her lowest point, in which she abandoned the good fight to wallow in depression, to finding that inner strength again and channeling her pain into something powerful.

At the top of the season, she's at her lowest point having lost her arm. But even in that vulnerable state, she's still able to kick ass as seen with that awesome bar fight alongside Colleen in episode 4. What do you think that one-armed fight scene says about Misty Knight?
Simone Missick: That she stays ready and she doesn't ever have to get ready. Misty at her core is someone who will never back down from a fight. It's wonderful to see this vulnerability and her just really in a state of depression that I think a lot of us have experienced at various times of our lives. Sometimes we try to project this image of strength and resilience that just isn't true to who we are and what we're feeling. She starts the season like that. But to have someone who you respect, who you have a lot in common with, who is also going through identity issues at this point in their life... To have Colleen tell Misty to pick herself up off the floor is something that's a good visual for men and women. [It shows] that women can inspire one another to take our pain and turn it into power.

Misty does eventually get her groove back when she receives the bionic arm. What does that new arm mean to her?
Missick: It means that she is moving into that superhero status. We're watching as she's literally gettiting her swagger back over the course of the season and step into who she is in the comic books. I think that it also means that she's not taking herself out of the fight. When we see her at the beginning of the season, she's stepped away from the police force. She doesn't know who she is anymore or what she's gonna do with the rest of her life. Once she gets that prosthetic, it's like the world has opened up for her again. It's exciting.

Now that Misty this bionic arm, how does that change her dynamic with Luke Cage?
Missick: Very rarely can there be two heads of the house. Luke believes that he is as unbreakable as his skin and Misty is always there to remind him that he is just a man. Sometimes that makes it a little difficult [for them to] work side by side. [And] now that she has this arm, she believes that she is just as capable as he is to be physically on the forefront [of the good fight]. But Luke obviously thinks, '"Listen, you're just a regular old cop and now you've got a cool little arm. Take a step back and let me handle this." It will be fun to see how they continue to not get along.

Do you think there's a temptation for Misty to be seduced by the power of this arm?
Missick: I do. We as human beings always think that we're capable of doing anything, that we can be the ones to fix the problem. With Misty having this arm, not only does she have the law on her side, but she also has this physical advantage that puts her in the same conversation as people with abilities. So I think it'll be interesting to see how that grows and if, in fact, she is able to keep that moral high ground the way that she expects of others or if she will fall prey to it. She's human like everybody else.

Luke has inherited Harlem's Paradise. How do you think this changes things now that it's no longer being run by criminals?
Missick: I wonder how much that will be true. It is a place where crimes have happened for so long. You can clear out the bad people but eventually, they find their way back. And so, I think what we see at the end of the season. Luke might have good intentions, but good intentions are the road to hell.

What would you like to explore in a potential Season 3?
Missick: I definitely want to get into the why of who Misty is, how she got to be who she is, where she comes from, who her circle is and who her family is in order to understand how this woman ascended to being a detective so quickly. How she got this Misty Vision and what makes her tick. Because as much as you can love someone for their power and their ability to kick ass, you really wanna know their vulnerabilities and their weaknesses. So I'd really like to see ad explore the human side of Misty as she's stepping into superhero status.

Is Misty finally getting her own spin-off? What's the update?
Missick: [Note: a spin-off isn't currently in the works.] You guys better keep this Twitter campaign going. Y'all gotta get those hashtags up. I believe in you.

With Colleen visiting Misty on Luke Cage, can we expect to see Misty dropping by to see Colleen in Season 2 of Iron Fist?
Missick:Misty and Colleen spend a lot of time together in Season 2 and it was a lot of fun. I think the fans are gonna love it.

Season 2 of Luke Cage is now streaming on Netflix.