Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s Relationship History in the Comics

Every love story has its challenges – and Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s relationship is no exception. These two heroes found each other and fell in love despite the darkness in their respective pasts. While their complicated histories and current responsibilities have at times presented obstacles, Luke and Jessica are in it for the long run and have a daughter, Danielle Cage, together. They spent years as a private investigator and a hero for hire, but both Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are now card-carrying Avengers and trusted veteran heroes.

Let’s take a closer look at their relationship and how they managed to stay together even when the dangers of the Marvel Universe tried to pull them apart. From their street-level beginnings to their time as Avengers, here’s how Luke Cage and Jessica Jones built a life and family together.

HOW JESSICA JONES MET LUKE CAGE

When Jessica Jones and Luke Cage first met, they both already operated as costumed heroes. Under the codename Power Man, Luke Cage worked with his best friend, Iron Fist (Danny Rand), as Heroes for Hire. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones decided to give costumed crime-fighting another chance as Knightress following her traumatic experiences with the Purple Man. While she only retained that alias for a week, she did cross paths with Luke, as detailed in The Pulse (2004) #14 by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. 

The heroes met when they crashed a meeting between the Owl and the criminal Maggia group. After defeating the villains, Jessica and Luke realized that one henchman had brought his kids to the meet-up. To prevent the kids from spending a night in a shelter, Jessica unmasked herself and took them in. Luke was touched by Jessica’s empathy and decided to stay with her and the kids for the night.

HOW LUKE CAGE FELL IN LOVE WITH JESSICA JONES

Once Jessica Jones put away her crime-fighting costume for good, she became a private investigator. Luke Cage enlisted Jessica’s detective skills when he wanted to track down his estranged father, James Lucas, as recounted in New Avengers (2004) #47 by Brian Michael Bendis, Billy Tan, and Michael Gaydos. Even though Luke’s father had changed his last name, Jessica tracked him down to his new home in Atlanta. 

Against Jessica’s advice, Luke traveled with her to reunite with his dad. However, James and his wife turned the heroes away when they arrived at their doorstep. The failed reunion devastated Luke. Years later though, he looked back at that trip as the moment he fell in love with Jessica, who consoled him in the moment. Although their lives took them in different directions, Jessica and Luke reconnected and began seeing each other casually.

THE BIRTH OF DANIELLE CAGE

Although Jessica Jones and Luke Cage both dated other people, they decided to become a couple when Jessica realized she was pregnant. At the time, Jessica was still running Alias Investigations but sought more stable employment at the superhuman-focused magazine, The Pulse. Once the couple moved in together, they learned that Luke had been part of Nick Fury’s secret war against the Latverian government, his memories of which had been erased. Lucia Von Bardas, a Latverian leader, exacted her revenge by destroying Luke’s apartment with Jessica and putting him in a coma.

Once Luke recovered, he and Jessica began working more closely with other heroes. Luke helped stop a prison breakout and subsequently joined the group that became the latest itertaion of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in New Avengers (2004) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch. Meanwhile, Jessica investigated the emergence of the Young Avengers alongside Captain America and Iron Man. During this period in their lives surrounded by the Avengers, Jessica gave birth to a baby girl named Danielle Cage in The Pulse (2004) #13. As Luke held his newborn for the first time, he also asked Jessica to marry him.

THE MARRIAGE OF JESSICA JONES AND LUKE CAGE

After leaving her job at The Pulse, Jessica Jones accepted Luke Cage’s proposal, and the two heroes tied the knot in New Avengers Annual (2006) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel. As Luke and Jessica adjusted to parenthood and married life, they faced several crises that reverberated throughout the Marvel Universe. For instance, when Civil War pitted the Avengers against each other, Luke joined Captain America’s outlaw Avengers team, while Jessica and Danielle avoided the conflict in Canada. 

However, once Jessica returned and joined Luke’s team of outlaws, the team discovered that shape-shifting alien Skrulls had secretly invaded Earth and replaced heroes with sleeper agents. The shocking revelation compelled Jessica to seek help from Iron Man’s government-sanctioned Avengers team, putting her relationship with Luke to the test. But as Luke took on greater leadership roles with the Avengers and Thunderbolts, Jessica stood by him and jumped into action alongside the heroes.

JESSICA JONES GOES UNDERCOVER

While their family weathered many crises in the Marvel Universe, Jessica Jones unexpectedly left Luke Cage and put their daughter into hiding without explanation. Jessica demolished her personal life, spent some time in jail, and reopened Alias Investigations in Jessica Jones (2016) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Unbeknownst to her own family, Jessica’s erratic behavior was a calculated move to secretly infiltrate a hero-hating group on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. and her close friend, Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers). While Luke found Danielle with Jessica’s adoptive mother, he was not yet ready to accept Jessica back in his life. The heroes only began reconciling after Jessica helped him calm an upset Danielle down in Jessica Jones (2016) #7.

Along with Daredevil and Iron Fist, Luke and Jessica formed the core of a Defenders team that protected the streets of New York in Defenders (2017) #1 by Bendis and David Marquez. With help from allies like Black Cat and Deadpool, these Defenders dealt with threats like the Hood and Diamondback.

TARGET: DANIELLE CAGE

Over several of their next adventures, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage faced multiple villains who took a particular interest in Danielle Cage. When the Purple Man escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, he contacted Jessica by briefly taking control over Danielle in Jessica Jones (2016) #13. Although Jessica defeated him, her history with Killgrave came back into the spotlight when Danielle suddenly turned purple in Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter Digital Comic (2019) #1 by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis. The incident raised some questions about the identity of Danielle’s biological father, but Luke remained committed to his family. Benjamin Killgrave, one of the Purple Man’s children, secretly orchestrated Danielle’s change in appearance, even briefly taking control of Luke – at least until Jessica defeated him.

On a separate occasion, several alternate reality versions of Jessica Jones crashed into the main Marvel Universe. Jessica quickly realized that she was being targeted due to her relationships with Luke and Danielle in The Variants (2022) #5 by Gail Simone and Phil Noto.

MAYOR LUKE CAGE

When Mayor Wilson Fisk began cracking down on vigilantes, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones tried to keep a low profile. But after rescuing a bus of civilians from the Shocker, Luke made a speech about the importance of heroism in Devil's Reign (2021) #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto. With support from Jessica and the Avengers, Luke decided to run against the Kingpin in the upcoming mayoral election. Due to Jessica’s past experiences with the Purple Man, she recognized that Kingpin was using her mind-controlling nemesis to influence voters. She enlisted the help of the Purple Children against Kingpin and his forces, which left Luke as the only mayoral candidate in the election. 

As Luke began his mayoral duties, Jessica tracked down Joe, one of the Purple Children who helped them take Kingpin down. After seeing him in a power-neutralizing collar, she brought him home and adopted him with Luke in Devil's Reign: Omega (2022) #1. As Mayor, Luke Cage tried to revoke the anti-vigilante laws that Mayor Fisk had enacted. This came to a head when several criminal organizations clamored for power in Gang War. As Luke and Jessica jumped into the fight alongside allies like Iron Fist, their victory helped strike down the anti-vigilante laws. Settling in to their new lives at the Mayor’s office, Jessica and Luke must now navigate the challenges of being public figures as they try make New York a better place for their children in Alias: Red Band (2026) #1. 

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