#noah burstein

[merrymarvelite]

Cover of the Day: Power Man and Iron Fist #68 (April, 1981) Art by Frank Miller

[invesagener]

sooooo here i am again on my crack pot theory: the experiment that made Luke bulletproof and revived Jessica from the car crash are connected.

(i feel a little skeptical of this considering the stretch and maybe not everything is connected but given the recurring pattern of 'mad scientists stick together' especially in marvel (see Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter) i wouldn't be surprised if this were the case. plus these are all ideas from canon)

Lore in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are connected by the USB stick Reva Connors buried under wet cement, which made her of interest to Kilgrave, who underwent experimental surgeries in the 80s for a degenerative neurological disease that included introducing a virus to his 'damaged' DNA. note that the experiment worked, albeit with some side effects.

(read that last sentence again and think of some other characters this could apply to.)

it's also worth noting that the people who ran the experiments, Kilgrave's parents, were given grant money around '88 after which they jumped ship. some benefactor knew these experiments were successful.

and the USB stick not only had Kilgrave's records, but also every single kid who had been subjects for that particular experiment. same way the Seagate files had everyone's records, including Luke's. question now is how the hell did these experiments have a commonality and ended up in the same stick?

an idea comes in Jessica Jones season 2, where Karl Malus mentions how Kozlov, a former co-researcher, wanted to sell their findings in IGH to the military. Kozlov ended up working with the military (see knowing Simpson and his war buddies in season 1) but his work was more on metabolism enhancement. nothing's stopping him from sharing IGH's studies on cell regeneration though, the procedure that basically kickstarted Jessica's body into healing itself around 2000.

think back to the purpose of the Seagate experiments (early 2010s). the goal wasn't to make anyone bulletproof, but to make artificial skin for burn victims – essentially instant cell regeneration. Luke Cage explains how Luke's skin was like velcro with how instant his healing was, since they were bonded with abalone shells.

recall Noah Burstein, who manned the procedure that gave Luke bulletproof skin and said the USB had "Everything I lost and more" and how after the cover-up he had to "start from scratch." he said that Luke as the sole survivor of his experiments could benefit the military (with which the Seagate experiment crew were heavily implied to be in cahoots with). he also said that Luke's DNA might've been the 'X factor' that made the whole thing work.

Karl said the same thing about Jessica and her mom. He also explains to Trish the procedure he's theoretically streamlined within 17 years, which also included introducing a live virus to her DNA.

i've been grappling for a while on why Reva chose to settle herself and Luke in New York. why not move coasts? or settle in her hometown (presumably Harlem if she knew Pop)? she could've buried that stick anywhere else but why choose Hell's Kitchen?

i'm starting to think that, with IGH nearby and Kozlov having privileges in Metro General (he also lived within the city), should Luke be ever found by interested parties or if something goes bad with him physically, Reva would have someone to call. plus, it helps that IGH keeps track of their former patients who are more likely to be from the tri-state area. there's already two (Jessica and Whizzer) who live in the city, three if you count Jessica's mom. nevermind that IGH was defunct by then, but no one said her information was updated.

there's been a natural progression of research findings from Kilgrave's time in the 1980s > gene editing in 2000 > isolation of target cells (i.e. the epidermis) in 2013. i wouldn't be surprised if they piggy-backed on previous researches instead of making their own findings if the progression had been this quick.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Crack concept: Netflix makes a “What If: All-Different Defenders” miniseries. 

Basically, it’s the same universe but with these differences. Matt is the one who was killed by the mob and Jack Murdock became Daredevil. Alisa Jones was the one who fought Kilgrave (and by default, Jessica became the crazy serial killer). Luke never escaped prison. Instead, Comanche was the one who went through Noah Burstein’s experiment. Last, Danny died in the plane crash. Wendell and Heather Rand survived and became the duo known as the “Iron Fists”.

The miniseries features Jack, Alisa, Comanche, Heather, and Wendell teaming up to stop the Hand. But instead of Sigourney Weaver leading (forgot her character’s name), it’s Colleen Wing. In this universe, Colleen killed Bakuto to take his place as one of the leaders of the Hand. Over time, she became the main Hand leader.

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

YOOOOOO that's one of the most hard core on page deaths yet... Bushmaster who’s skin was hardened just like Luke’s but his got too hard and he cracked. 

[netflixdefenders]

Burstein: “Where would you be without me, Luke? You would be nothing more than what you were-- wasted potential living out his life as a thug, either still in prison or dead. You’d be nothing without me-- I made you the man you are!”

Luke: “You made me?! Let me break it down for you... You experimented on me. You gave me some really inspiring pep talks from time to time. But make me? You. Did. Not. Make. Me. I made myself. Right or wrong-- everything I did was because I chose to do it. I’ll give you credit for the experiment and what that did to me... but what I did with myself, what I did with my life... that was me.”

Luke Cage (2017) #4 by David F. Walker, Nelson Blake II, and Marcio Menyz

[comicwaren]

From Luke Cage #005

Art by Nelson Blake II and Marcio Menyz

Written by David Walker

[wadewilson-parker]

Luke Cage (2017) #4

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

I guess losing his unbreakable skin also made Luke... like, a huge muscular weakling?