The man who would be Cage … and Blade

Idris Elba, best known as Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell from the television show, The Wire, seems to be Marvel’s new go-to man.

Elba, who is already playing Heimdall (the all-seeing sentry of Asgard) in Thor, recently told TotalFilm that he has signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel.

I have a picture deal with [Marvel]. I can’t tell you much about that, but I can tell you I’ll be back. … I wouldn’t mind having a crack at bringing Blade back, personally. There’s a couple of things there that they have. Luke Cage is … very interesting.

All of this is coming right after the news that he will be playing a warrior monk in the upcoming Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence.

Do you think that he would be a good choice for Marvel? Or, is he flirting with over-exposure, and should those parts go to other actors (like the Old Spice spokesperson, Isaiah Mustafa).

Check below the jump for a mini-biography on Blade and Luke Cage.

The character of Blade is an African-American superhero vampire hunter who is known as a “daywalker,” a part-vampire whose mother was bitten moments before Blade was born. This granted Blade access to super-strength, speed, stamina and a healing factor, which he uses to rid the world of vampires. Marvel already made three Blade movies starring Wesley Snipes (Blade, Blade II and Blade: Trinity), but there has been talks of re-booting the franchise for a while.

Luke Cage is also an African-American superhero, but he was raised in New York City, and fell into a bad crowd and ended up in prison. He later volunteers for an experimental procedure in prison (based on Captain America’s super-soldier serum). The experiments gave him super-human strength and impenetrable skin, and this leads him to create a team called “Heroes for Hire” with Iron Fist (aka Danny Rand, a martial-arts superhero, also rumored to be getting his own movie).

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Idris Elba wants to play Blade and Luke Cage