On 19 January, 2018, Marvel dropped the extended trailer for their new live action series, Cloak and Dagger. Unlike the Supergirl trailer that CBS dropped in 2015 which frankly told too much, the Cloak and Dagger trailer doesn’t tell us enough.
Cloak and Dagger is based on the teenaged twosome that premiered in the 1982 Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spiderman comic book series. In the comics, Cloak is 17 year old Tyrone Johnson from Boston and Dagger is 16 year old Tandy Bowen from Cleveland portrayed by Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt, respectively. They both were homeless runaways, living in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. They were captured and taken to a stereotypical mad scientist (actually a pharmaceutical chemist) who was testing a synthetic ‘superhero’ heroin for the mob on runaway teenagers. Remember that this was during Nancy Reagan’s War on Drugs campaign (which explains the 
storyline but doesn’t do much to explain anything else that happens to the pair). Anyway, the drugs gives them superpowers which basically boil down to Tyrone being able to teleport and engulf others in “soul stealing” darkness and Tandy being able to emit light daggers and cure others of their addiction. Tyrone’s dark force torments him with a hunger that can only be satisfied by absorbing people into his dark force or by the presence of Tandy who was also changed in that she has a constant build up of light force which she needs to release. In other words, they are yin and yang and need each other to survive.
While it is unlikely that ABC will allow Cloak and Dagger’s dark origin to air, there wasn’t enough in the trailer to give those not familiar with the comics a sense of “must see” TV. Cloak and Dagger are an extremely powerful team who fight the drug cartels everywhere they find them, but that didn’t come across in the trailer. And make no mistake, Cloak and Dagger have killed people they thought need killing, but it is unlikely that that part of their mythology will come across on Freeform. Nevertheless, I am excited about the series because:
1) Cloak and Dagger is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This means they are in the same world as the Avengers (movies), the Defenders (Netflix) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC TV). As a side note, remember when Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (season 1 & 4 ) and Agent Carter (season 2) dealt briefly with something called the Darkforce (Dark Matter)? Think of Cloak as a master of the force giving the duo an opportunity for a crossover should Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. be renewed next year.
2) The series has an initial 10 episode run on Freeform (formerly ABC Family). After that, the series could move to Netflix or even to Disney XD. Either one of those moves would be fine with me.
3) Cloak and Dagger is a love story that somehow feels like it was easier to tell in 1982 than in today’s polarized world. Tyrone and Tandy aren’t the first interracial Marvel superheroes to fall in love with each other. But because they need each other in a way that other heroes don’t, it’s easy to see where this love story might fail to draw an audience if ABC makes it more like Twilight instead of the Defenders. I hope Cloak and Dagger focuses more on what the lovers can do rather than on who they are. They are true superheroes and I hope we get to see that.
As an aside, in the origin comic, Cloak and Dagger are 17 & 16, respectively. In the animated version of the characters, they are in their early 20s. I hope that we see an older version of this duo so that we can explore all facets of their relationship.
That said, Cloak and Dagger will air on Thursday, June 7, 2018. It’s a show I’m looking forward to seeing.
