Favorite Characters: Cornell Stokes a.k.a. Cottonmouth (Luke Cage)

Luke Cage fits the overall Marvel trend of the TV shows generally having better villains than the movies.  Now, I wouldn’t put this show quite up there with Jessica Jones or Agent Carter, since Diamondback doesn’t really work for me, but fortunately, the show spreads the villain love between a few different characters.  Like his cousin Mariah, Cottonmouth makes an excellent baddie, albeit for very different reasons (some Cottonmouth-related spoilers.)

This is the type of story that lends itself well to a suave crime lord, and Cottonmouth fits the bill quite nicely.  On the (very ostensible) surface, he’s a wealthy club owner who oversees the happening Harlem’s Paradise, the place to be with live music to die for.  However, he’s so notorious that his position running a vast criminal enterprise isn’t even an open secret.  Everyone knows exactly what sort of business he gets up to – from extortion to drugs to guns – and he’s the type who manages to stay just far enough out of the muck that the police can’t pin anything to him.

Cottonmouth is all about power.  He runs his operation with icy determination, and everyone in his employ know they cross him at their own risk.  The “everybody wants to be the king” speech in his office is a masterful bit of acting, and I love how it’s filmed, with him delivering it straight into the camera where his unseen lackey is tied up just offscreen.  His words are calm, eloquent, all business – and then he beats his lackey so hard, the blood spatters onto his clothes.  He means what he says, he can turn on a dime, and he does not stand for anything less than what he ordered.

And yet, he has a pull that’s about more than just intimidation and power.  Most people in Harlem live in fear of getting on his bad side, but he’s so compelling, so charismatic, that he’s capable of making them, for just a moment, almost forget that.  When he speaks at Pop’s funeral, he suddenly rallies the people, moving them with this words, and in that instant, they stop being afraid.

This is partially because, unlike the other villains we see in Luke Cage, Cottonmouth does have a sort of code that he follows.  He knows the unwritten rules of the neighborhood, like Pop’s barber shop being neutral ground, and so, despite his general unpredictability, people know where he stands on things like that and can trust him to honor the code.  His stance on these matters are absolute, and he has no mercy for any of his goons who color outside these lines against his orders.  Yes, this severity ties back into his need for power and control – he won’t brook disobedience under any circumstances – but it also shows what principles he’s maintained throughout his criminal enterprises.  That always makes for good drama, because even though he’s definitely a villain first and foremost, it can’t be said that he’s only one thing, and when is that not a plus?