Welcome to the second of my two recaps of Science Track panels from Dragon Con. This time I’m covering “The Science of Luke Cage,” which looked into the potential reality behind a character with impenetrable skin and incredible strength. The panel of scientists leading the discussion included a chemistry professor, an engineer, a biology professor and a biologist. 

The panel began by stating the obvious: the laws of physics are different for Luke Cage. But the how and why are what’s interesting. And when it comes to “sciencing” Power Man, the two things to consider are his physiology and his existence/interaction in a world that isn’t meant to handle him.

A lot of the discussion focused, not surprisingly, on Luke’s skin and how it could be made invulnerable. There was mention of carbon and nano fibers, something existing within the collagen and elasticity layer of skin. Using gene manipulation (aka a “crisper”), properties of abalone shell could be spliced into Luke’s genes – platelets in abalone nacre are similar to spider silk.

“He’s never ashy! Is there shea butter in this?!”

Then comes the fact that literally impenetrable skin would “cook” him because his body would be unable to release heat (via sweat). So some part of the experiments done on him have compensated for that – it’s even mentioned in the series that he “runs hot”. Luke would need to have very fast acting cells to allow for healing without scars, plus account for his metabolism.

Then there’s his bones and internal organs, which would also need to be shielded in some way. Consider the amount of force and energy that run through his body when he’s exerting strength or taking external damage (e.g., stopping a car with his body) – that would crush his insides if there were no natural protections in place. He also doesn’t suffer concussions, meaning his brain doesn’t move inside his skull when he’s hit. The idea that the water in his body was replaced by Newtonian fluid was brought up.

“He doesn’t care about Newton. Does Newton live in Harlem? He doesn’t care!”

The question of pain arose as well. Does Luke feel pain, but have no pain receptors? Typically, nerve endings for pain recognition are triggered when there is damage. So if he has no damage, does that mean there’s no pain? He seems to feel something (based on his physical reactions), so perhaps pain receptors have been dulled in some way. This would mean a mild form of intentional brain damage was part of the experiments.

The general conclusion regarding Luke’s physiology was that every single system of his body would had to have been altered in some way for his impenetrability, strength, etc. to exist in a human. Essentially there would have had to have been genetic modification, precision brain damage, nerve ending modifications and an adapted immune system, for a start.

As for the environment in which Luke exists, if his cells are modified the environment (as we know it) could not absorb what he naturally sheds on a daily basis. So he would be leaving detritus wherever he goes and it could never be destroyed. There’s also the issue of his daily interactions with people and situations – does he consciously restrain himself or does his system kick in only when faced with trauma. He should have an infinitely dense mass, based on the strength he exhibits, yet he doesn’t break chairs when sitting in them or crush pavement as he walks.

There was so much detail from this panel that I didn’t manage to capture everything. But you get the idea. And in the Q&A at the end, someone asked whether Luke’s daughter could end up with powers passed on to her. The answer was no… unless his chromosomes had been altered, of which there is no clear evidence.