‘Hunger Games’ Actor Mahershala Ali Cast as Cottonmouth in Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage’

Ali will face off against Mike Colter’s titular superhero

“Hunger Games” actor Mahershala Ali has joined the cast of Marvel and Netflix’s “Luke Cage” series, the companies announced Thursday.

Ali will play Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, a villain right out of comic book pages. In this iteration, Stokes is a Harlem nightclub owner who will become an unexpected foe in Luke’s life when Stokes’ criminal activities threaten Luke’s world.

Mike Colter stars on the third collaboration between Marvel and Netflix, following “Daredevil,” which aired earlier this year, and “Jessica Jones,” which will be released in the fall. Colter’s superhero alter-ego will first appear on “Jessica Jones,” which stars Krysten Ritter.

Ali joins other newcomers to the “Luke Cage” cast, including Theo Rossi and Alfre Woodard. The series will also see the return of Rosario Dawson, who first appeared on “Daredevil.”

“Luke Cage” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix, and will premiere in 2016.

Ali is best known for playing Boggs in the last three “Hunger Games” movies, and for his role as Remy Denton on Netflix’s “House of Cards.” He is represented by WME and Anonymous Content.

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