I had a dream that Shinya Aoki was cast as Luke Cage in an underwater Iron Man sequel. In the Marvel Universe, that casting would make no sense but upon closer observation, it would make complete sense. Nick Fury changed from a middle-aged, chain smoking Irish guy to friggin’ Mace Windu in the course of only a few years. I guess in this scenario, Shinya Aoki’s December 31st opponent, Satoru Kitaoka, would be like Big Ben Donovan, Luke Cage’s archenemy who is described simply as ‘lawyer and professional criminal’. Both characters had their first confrontation back in Hero For Hire #14, and the comic book cover should have its own exhibit in the Louvre. If the internet existed back in 1972 when this issue was released, it would also come with a superbly edited video about the time when they were friends, but eventually were forced to fight in front of an international audience. Sort of like this video released by DREAM depicting the history behind Aoki and Kitaoka. [Source]
