by: S. Scott Stanikmas

The Netflix / Marvel Studios series Luke Cage is chugging along at a good pace. And that includes adding a couple of new names to the roster.

Deadline is reporting that Rosario Dawson and Theo Rossi have signed on for the series chronicling the adventures of the street level hero-for-hire.

Dawson is reprising her role of Claire Temple. Fans will remember Temple from the Daredevil series. She’s also set to make an appearance in Jessica Jones. She’s been reported as the Nick Fury or Agent Coulson of the Netflix Universe – tying all the series together with one central character before joining everyone together for the inevitable team-up.

Meanwhile Rossi will play Alvarez, a.k.a. Shades. The villain is “relentless and menacing, smooth and manipulative, street smart and controlling.” In the comics, Shades sports a high-tech visor that allows him to shoot optic blasts – sort of like a street level Cyclops but without the burden of being a mutant.

In the comics, Shades and Cage did time together in Seagate Prison before both were released and went down separate paths.

Rossi, who played Juice on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, isn’t really playing anything that’s too much of a stretch for him which is a bit of a disappointment. But he does do a good job at playing a hardass, mean criminal so hopefully this turns out to be a decent role for him.

Luke Cage, which is currently filming under the codename TIARA (a nod back to the comics early days when Cage wore a tiara, chain belt and yellow blouse) is set to debut sometime next year on Netflix.