A blessing to the end: Luke Cage showrunner, actors on Reg E. Cathey's passing six months later

Six months after his passing, a part of Reg E. Cathey's death still haunts Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.

Coker shared during the first day of Asia POP Comicon on Friday that "one of (his) greatest regrets" was not sharing the finished episodes of Season 2 to Cathey even knowing how sick he was.

Reg Cathey, 1958-2018. Not only a fine, masterful actor -- but simply one of the most delightful human beings with whom I ever shared some long days on set. On wit alone, he could double any man over and leave him thinking. Reg, your memory is a great blessing. pic.twitter.com/OHEUbAhTg0

— David Simon (@AoDespair) February 9, 2018

"I think we were in denial with how sick he was because he was always so, even towards the end, he was always optimistic that he was gonna beat it," Coker explained.

"I really wish that I just hopped on a plane and just showed him the episodes on my laptop because the fact that he didn't get to see it, it still burns me because he was so good."

Cathey's voice, as Coker mentioned in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, opened the magical first table read they had for the first episode of the Netflix series' second season — which he still maintained was the best table read he'd ever been in.

The voice of the man who played Luke Cage's father was also the last thing the audience heard at the end of Season 2, and set off the spirit on which the whole season thrived off on.

"His voice is the first voice you hear in the season and the last voice you hear in the season and you just hear him—he set us off. And we just had a spirit from that table read that, the whole season, we're just so enthusiastic," Coker recalled.

Variety reported Cathey's passing on February 9. The 59-year-old actor had reportedly battled lung cancer but the cause of his death, noted The Guardian, had not been announced.

Mike Colter and Mustafa Shakir, who play Luke Cage and the anti-hero Bushmaster respectively, believe Cathey could have pulled out of shooting at any time due to his condition but powered through.

In that sense, Shakir said, Cathey was a blessing until the end.

"Of course it's always dificult to see someone pass, but it's a part of life which we have to embrace. I just feel like he was a blessing on the season. He made it through, he did it, because he could've left mid-season," Shakir said.

"He could've stopped, he could've said 'I can't come to set, I don't feel well.'  He just kept powering through," added Colter.

With Cathey's passing, Shakir recalled a feeling he had when legendary musician Ray Charles died months before the premiere of his biographical film.

"The movie got done, then Ray Charles passed. It was sort of like a blessing for the entire project (Luke Cage)," Shakir said.

Cathey's final gift to the Luke Cage family, in a sense, was his outstanding performance as James Lucas.

"There are moments in episode nine where I think that he knew that he wasn't gonna act again for a while. There was emotion there that, it was scripted that way, but there was added emotion to it," Coker recalled.

He continued, "Particularly, the conversation between father and son at the very end, in the ambulance. There's definitely real emotion in it."

Shakir added, "It worked. It sounds macabre, but it worked."

Cathey was known for his roles on shows such as “The Wire," “Grimm,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “House of Cards,” and “Outcast.”

The veteran actor was nominated for an Emmy in 2014 and 2016 for his role on "House of Cards," for which he eventually won an Emmy for outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2015.

Luke Cage's season two finale was dedicated to him. —GMA News