Can Marvel Overcome The Inhumans With Cloak and Dagger?

Cloak and Dagger were created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan and made their debut in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64.

Unlike the most well-known teams in comics, Cloak and Dagger has remained in obscurity for most of their existence. I suppose that there really isn’t a good reason for Marvel to explore the duo in a live action adaptation other than the success of Guardians of the Galaxy.

After their success, Marvel has become very open to trying new things. I look no further than the ill-fated Inhumans show that appears to have been cancelled. I am very curious to see how this pans out for the studio. Will it be another Agents if SHIELD, or is it doomed to be the aforementioned Inhumans?

The beginning

Their story begins with the then 17-year-old, stutter-prone Tyrone Johnson. Unfortunately for Tyrone, his impediment was seen as the cause for the demise of his friend. In short, due to his issues, he was unable to let the police know that his friend was being wrongly accused of a crime.

Wrought with guilt, young Tyrone fled to New York where he met, what would become his partner, Tandy Bowen. Tandy too was on the run. This wasn’t because of an unfortunate circumstance, as in the case of Tyrone, but rather because of her mother’s high-society, model lifestyle.

Their newfound friendship took a drastic turn when the two were kidnaped by a crime family known as the Maggia. While captive, the two underwent a series of human tested, yet unproven drugs. The two successfully passed and survived the testing, and as a consequence, the drugs bestowed each a set of superpowers.

A dagger to the heart…

As Tandy’s superpowers manifested, so too did her ability to create “light daggers” that she released from her fingertips. These daggers drain the vitality of whomever they touch and curb Tyrone’s insatiable appetite for light.

Conversely, Tyrone was suddenly able to travel in and out of the Darkforce Dimension. If anybody were to be touched by his darkness, they would be overcome with a cold feeling and have their greats fears visualized in front of them. Further to these, he could transport beings to it as well.

Just like the 5 Rangers whose Zords can come together to become Megazord, Cloak and Dagger need one another.

Just another television show?

And here’s what makes this show so special. Where the Inhumans failed, Cloak and Dagger have the opportunity to flesh out a new area of the Marvel Universe. With Inhumans, Attilan has been discussed, talked about and beaten to death during Agents of SHIELD. Agents made no effort to sway away from the fact that there wasn’t going to be at least a semblance of a tie-in series. While Inhumans was plagued with problems from the beginning, I believe that the already fleshed out habitat left little to be desired.

Marvel knows what they are doing. (Hell’s Kitchen on Netflix and Dr. Strange and the Multiverse are just two examples) and they have the chance to do it again.

And they will.

Marvel excels in bringing unimaginable places to reality and the Darkforce Dimension will be no different. It will be beautiful, energetic, and like nothing we’ve ever seen.

The duo

And if they fail to do the Darkforce Dimension, they can always fall back on the inherent chemistry the two will undoubtedly have.

…that is, unless the two actors are worse to watch than cardboard cutouts.

Cloak and Dagger is set to launch on Freeform June 7, 2018.

Cheers,

Jeff

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