LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas is a major character in the Power universe, serving as a supporting antagonist in Power and one of the deuteragonists in Power Book III: Raising Kanan. She is portrayed by Anika Noni Rose in Power and Hailey Kilgore in Raising Kanan.
Description[]
| This section consists of the character's official description/s, provided by Starz. |
Season 1[]
A trusted confidante to her cousin Kanan, Jukebox is the epitome of loyalty and has his back no matter what. That dependability goes both ways as Kanan keeps Jukebox’s queer identity a secret from the family, especially from her hothead father Marvin who might not approve. Also a talented singer, Jukebox is determined to carve out her own path.[3]
Season 3[]
Quick-witted, fiercely independent, strong. An incredible singer. Jukebox is Marvin’s daughter and Kanan’s cousin. She is Kanan’s closest confidant – they keep each other’s secrets, and always have each other’s backs. Jukebox is determined to forge her own path through music.
Personality[]
She’s a hardcore New Yorker. She did not grow up in easy circumstances, and I think that lives in her and informs the way she handles herself. She does not suffer fools. She is extraordinarily smart and she’s a survivor.—Anika Noni Rose
Ebony
[To be added.]
Biography[]
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Past[]
Jukebox had a very close relationship with Kanan since they were kids, this was made obvious by the fact that he went to her for help after surviving Ghost's attack. She revealed how he was the first person she revealed her sexuality to (how she is a lesbian), while he was also very comfortable sharing intimate details about himself with her. Jukebox eventually moved to Washington D.C. where she became a member of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the National Black Police Association. She began a relationship with Candie and formed her own crew.
Raising Kanan[]
Season 1[]
She is shown to be the loving Cousin of Kanan, giving him advice and describing how their family works. Jukebox is first seen in the flashback of 1985 where she is held back by bullies who were beating up on her cousin. She tries to defend him but is unable to as his money is taken by the bullies as they proceed to make fun of him before he runs off, despite her pleading to him to come back. Eventually he returns with a sock full of batteries and at the behest of his mother, beats up to bullies in revenge for their actions.
Power[]
LaVerne Ganner, who goes by the street name Jukebox, who knows Ghost from way back. She can be ruthless and utterly without mercy when dealing with members of her crew who disobey her orders or cause unnecessary liabilities. She runs a side business, which includes using young thugs to pull armed robberies, using her position as a patrol officer to throw off suspicion.
Season 3[]
She first appears as she she foils a robbery in a drugstore and openly kills both the robber and the clueless clerk. The police officer then returns to her home to a waiting girlfriend. She’s also got a temporary house guest, Kanan. He’s recovering from a battle with Ghost and was badly disfigured and burned.
Kanan had to be deprived of pain medication to tell his cousin the whole story of how he ended up in this state, including murdering his own son, a fact that she accepted with no judgement, stating that Shawn picked Ghost over him.
Once assured of his his improved condition, she lets Kanan in her crew as they rob a jewelry store, later reporting to the Police Department that the assailants were white males to throw them off the trail of the crime.
Jukebox appears later as Kanan is bonding with Ghost's son Tariq and tests him to see if he is loyal to them, which he seemingly passes. She then advises her cousin to kill him. In order to lure Ghost out, they later drug Tariq and then text a picture of him to Ghost's wife Tasha demanding a ransom for their son's life.
Season 4[]
Jukebox and Kanan are waiting for Tasha to respond to their ransom demand when Dre shows up, informing them, Ghost was arrested a few hours back.
After hearing of Ghost's arrest, Jukebox sees Ghost being locked up as an opportunity to put even more pressure on Tasha and Ghost to deliver the ransom money. Dre interrupts and tells Kanan that he is in a better position to put some money in his hand by getting him back into the drug game. Dre proposes that he can get Kanan 10K a week, Jukebox and Ray Ray jump in and says 15k a week for each of them. Tariq is later released as plans change.
When Ghost is released from jail, Jukebox (realizing Ghost could access his money again) seizes the opportunity and kidnaps Tariq again with the intent to kill him and his father this time around. Jukebox has Kanan track Ghost down, which he does by ambushing him outside of his club as Ghost is surprised to see him alive. Kanan and Ghost rob Tommy's operation to pay both him and Jukebox off for Tariq.
Just as Tariq tries to leave, Jukebox knocks him out and ties him up. Jukebox finds out that's she’s getting double crossed. She pulls a gun on Tariq and starts spilling secrets. “Tell him who you really are,” she commands Kanan, who does as she says, confessing that he’s a “no-good motherf–ker” who wanted to hurt Ghost, “so I used you.” and Kanan even admits to killing Shawn. Jukebox is gunned down by Kanan after threatening to kill Tariq during the ransom.
Murders[]
Committed by Jukebox[]
Raising Kanan[]
- Aaron: Shot in the back of the head to save Marvin.
Power[]
- Wookie: Shot to death.
Connected to Jukebox[]
Raising Kanan[]
- Nicole Bingham: Snuck inside LaVerne's backpack to get Kanan's bad batch of drugs, while being distracted getting a pretzel when they both were in the park, therefore being killed by drugs as result.
Power[]
- Clerk: Ordered Wookie to shoot him for triggering the alarm.
Trivia[]
- Showrunner Courtney Kemp and producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson based Jukebox' sexuality on 50 Cent's mother, who was gay.[2][1] He states: "Cos of my mom. She was like that. She had a girlfriend around. These are things that feel like they're going into the story organically, [so] it works."[2]
- When Anika Noni Rose was first cast on the show Deadline reported her character would be named LaVerne “Jukebox” Thomas. However during her first appearance on the show a news report mentioned her name to be LaVerne Ganner.
- It's later confirmed that Laverne Thomas was her real name in Raising Kanan.
- It is revealed she may have changed it to hide her relation to the Thomas Family.
- It was confirmed she was in the military, due to her being gay she used it to get out.
- Jukebox was an officer of the Metropolitan Police Department and a veteran member of the National Black Police Association.
- She was called Jukebox by her friends and family because she can switch and imitate the voices of some celebrities.
- Jukebox never met Tommy in Power, however when Ghost mentioned Jukebox to Tommy, he recognized the name suggesting that they may have met before the events of Power.
- In Tariq’s storyline in season 3-4, she served as the secondary antagonist.
- When her Father was in prison, her Aunt Raq took to raising her while becoming a mother figure to Juke, emphasizing their close nature.
- In Raising Kanan series she was in a singing group called "Butta"
- She stated Kanan was the first to find out her sexuality. This is shown in the prequel where he is the only member to find out about her relationship with Nicole and later her Aunt Raquel found out and supported her while her father was outraged but soon came around.
- During the series of Raising Kanan it's shown in a scene she has a conversation with Iesha, saying she only is staying in New York because of her Father Marvin Thomas. During an event that causes her to leave somewhere in the timeline, Jukebox moves to Washington, D.C before her appearance on Power.
- In the past when her and Kanan were younger, It was told by Courtney Kemp Jukebox put the scar on Kanan's neck in a fight they had.
- Kanan recounts a time in Coney Island when he was 10 and Jukebox was 11 years old — this makes her at least 1 year older than Kanan,[4] whose birthday is August 15, 1975.[5] This also indicates that Jukebox was born between late 1973 to mid 1974.
- Marvin states Jukebox is 18 in Raising Kanan's third season.[6]
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Season 6 | |||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 5 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Venable, Malcolm (July 31, 2016). Power's Boss on New Villian Jukebox, and How 50 Cent Decided She'd Be Gay. TV Guide. Retrieved on November 21, 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 O’Connor, Roisin (July 13, 2021). 50 Cent: ‘Too rich? There’s no such thing’. Independent. Retrieved on November 21, 2024.
- ↑ Rocque, Anslem Samuel. Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Complex.
- ↑ "LEVEL UP". Dylan C. Brown (writer), Kieron Hawkes (director). Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Starz. August 29, 2021. 1x6.
- ↑ "CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES". Mike Flynn (writer), Eif Rivera (director). Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Starz. August 15, 2021. 1x5.
- ↑ "WHERE ALL ARE GUILTY". Brian Walker (writer), Sascha Penn (director). Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Starz. January 19, 2024. 3x7.