When you're writing about cops from the perspective of cops, that level of sarcasm about their job and how they treat people will color the writing to a certain extent.

Police officers see everything, and they experience everything, and they don't always act correctly.

One of my favorite memories as a kid was when the original 'Secret Wars' came out with the debut of the black costume for Spider-Man. I remember I couldn't wait to get home to read it, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, I've been waiting for this comic to come out. I hope, God forbid, nothing happens to me before I get home to read it.'

For me, hip-hop has always been black superhero music.

I'm a hip-hop showrunner.

Even though I've got this really brawny, masculine reputation, I'm a Shondaland Thursdays kind of guy.

Television has power.

My mom and dad met at U. Conn., and their lives couldn't have been more different in terms of their upbringing.

Black writers seldom get the opportunity to write superhero stories.

It's important to for your kids to see themselves in their superheroes. Really, it's important for all of us.

I wanted Luke Cage to very much be an African American superhero rather than a superhero that happens to be black. I felt it was important to give him that cultural grounding but also show that it doesn't make him an obtuse or one-sided character.

If you're a black person in America, it's really hard to avoid being black. And what I mean is that the reality of your cultural history, regardless of whether or not you talk about it, it's there.

That's the thing about TV: it gives you so much time to tell your story; it's comparable to comics.

Alfre Woodard is a powerhouse, master actor, but she's also someone that you want to interact with, someone that you want to talk to.

The difference between a Marvel superhero and a DC superhero is that we place Marvel superheroes in the real world that we recognize and that we know.

I'm not going to be one of those people who says, 'I'm a showrunner; I'm not a black showrunner.' I'm black when I go to sleep. I'm black when I wake up, period. It doesn't affect my perspective on everything, but at the same time, it's who I am, and I'm proud of it.

One of my biggest influences, of course, is David Simon and his work on 'The Wire.'

'The Wire' is, by far, my favorite television show of all time. And I've always said that my aspirations for 'Luke Cage' was that it would be 'The Wire' of the Marvel television universe.

As long as black people preserve their culture in Harlem, Harlem will always be alive.

To me, Harlem is one of the most important places on the earth, particularly when it comes to talking about African Americans.

Honestly, what 'Luke Cage' is - it's a hip-hop Western. And you have Luke Cage as the sheriff of Harlem.

The reason that Shaft has a dominant theme song is because James Bond has a dominant theme song.

All Blaxploitation is, is the opportunity for an African-American cast or lead actor or actress to do the same things that a white action hero gets to do.

One of my favorite comic books of all-time is the graphic novel 'God Loves, Man Kills.'