Luke Cage Officially Leaves Jessica Jones Behind To Investigate A New Threat In 2026 Marvel Release

1 week ago 11

Published Jan 28, 2026, 12:46 PM EST

Felipe Rangel is a Superheroes Lead Writer and Reviewer at ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021, with a focus on superhero projects. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Since the launch of the Superheroes vertical in 2023, he has focused his efforts on coming up with insightful analyses of Marvel and DC's projects.

Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."

Luke Cage returns in 2026 with a new Marvel release that will see the hero investigate an intriguing threat. The Marvel Cinematic Universe started to look at Netflix's The Defenders Saga during the franchise's Multiverse Saga. Both Daredevil and Kingpin returned in live-action in 2021, with Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio reprising their roles. That showed there was an appetite for more.

One of the best MCU TV shows, Daredevil: Born Again, brought back even more Netflix Marvel characters, with players like Bullseye, the Punisher, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, and more appearing. At this time, Luke Cage's future on the MCU's slate of projects has yet to be addressed by Marvel. However, the character is set to star in a 2026 release that comes at the perfect time.

A 2026 Marvel Release Sees Luke Cage Leave Jessica Jones Behind For New Investigation

Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel will be released on September 22, 2026. The book is part of Marvel's "Crime Novel" series, which is focused on mature stories about street-level characters, similar to what fans were used to from Netflix's The Defenders Saga. The first release in the franchise was Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel, by Lisa Jewell.

After the Jessica Jones book was released on July 2, 2024, Marvel announced a Daredevil entry. Enemy of My Enemy: A Daredevil Marvel Crime Novel, by Alex Segura, will arrive on March 24, 2026. As such, the Luke Cage novel will be the third release in the series, written by S.A. Cosby (Razorblade Tears).

Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel sees the Marvel hero leave behind Jessica Jones "during a delicate moment in their relationship." The reason is an investigation into a factory in rural Virginia that could be connected to low-level New York criminals getting their hands on advanced cybernetics. With his cousin's death as the starting point, Luke Cage unravels a wide-ranging conspiracy.

Marvel's New Luke Cage Book Release Is Perfectly Timed

Luke Cage's new book might not be connected to the MCU, but its timing is certainly interesting. After all, Jessica Jones' relationship with Luke is set to be a seemingly important part of the story, given that the synopsis makes it look like Luke is running away from her in order to chase down this new mystery.

Krysten Ritter makes her official return as Jessica Jones in Disney+'s Daredevil: Born Again season 2. At the end of the first season, Daredevil starts an army to take down Kingpin and reclaim New York City. Adding superpowered characters like Jessica Jones makes sense. If Jessica is back, so could Luke Cage, and his book would be released months after a possible MCU return.