Sonia Braga joins the cast of Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage’

With “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” receiving rave reviews, the comic book company’s next Netflix show, “Marvel’s Luke Cage,” steps up with the casting of a major actress, Sonia Braga, in the role of Soledad Temple, the mother of Rosario Dawson’s character Claire.

Dawson’s Claire is slated to have an important role in “Luke Cage,” so it stands to reason that Braga, a multiple Emmy and Golden Globe award nominee, could also play a pivotal character. In comics lore, there isn’t much information on the character to be found.

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Braga became a famous in her native Brazil in 1975 when she starred in the telenovela “Gabriela.” Stateside, she gained fame for roles in projects such as “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Moon Over Parador” and “The Burning Season.”

“A character as strong as Claire needs an equally powerful mother, and with Sonia we found the perfect actress to deliver the stellar performance we needed,” said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb in a statement on Marvel. “In ‘Marvel’s Luke Cage,’ fans will now get a chance to see where Claire got the fire we love her for.”

Cage himself, played by Mike Colter, had a romantic relationship with both Claire and Jones in the comics. Dawson’s character was often rumored to be the Night Nurse, a character that roamed throughout many different comics helping super heroes in medical need. But, according to showrunner Steven DeKnight, complications caused them to go away from using the name.

Colter’s Cage appeared in seven of the 13 episodes of “Jessica Jones,” and his self-titled show is set to stream sometime in 2016. “Cage” will be the third series launched as part of the deal between Marvel Studios and Netflix, and will culminate in a miniseries called “The Defenders.”