With Agents of SHIELD on break until next summer and Runaways on hiatus, you may be wondering what Marvel shows to watch this summer. Don’t worry, Freeform has you covered. Marvel’s teen drama Cloak & Dagger is set to premiere Thursday, June 7th, and FANDOM has a non-spoiler, advanced review for all the Marvel fans out there.
Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph as troubled teens Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson. During a freak accident in the pilot episode, “First Light”, Tandy and Tyrone are given superpowers. They don’t know they have superpowers until they are much older, both living very different lives as teen in New Orleans.
Not Another Superhero Show
Cloak & Dagger is a unique show on so many levels. First of all, Tandy and Tyrone are not superheroes. They don’t fight crime or use their powers for good (yet) — they’re teenagers — who are just trying to get through their teen years alive.
Tandy is a girl on the run. She and her mother live in a trailer park and Tandy runs cons on rich guys for money. Tyrone goes to a private school in a wealthy neighborhood but is haunted by childhood poverty and brother’s murder. They each have different struggles in their lives, whether it’s finding where their next meal is coming from, in Tandy’s case, or whether the social justice system will come through for Tyrone’s brother.
When they discover their powers, they aren’t exactly ready to suit up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, they’re frightened. In fact, their powers are triggered more by their fears than anything else. The first two episodes in particular show just how scary Tandy and Tyrone’s lives are when their powers reunite them.
Tackling Social Issues
While most superheroes fight for the general good of their city, country, planet, or universe, Cloak & Dagger takes a much more personal approach. Tandy and Tyrone come from different ethnic backgrounds, class backgrounds and family backgrounds yet their hearts cry for social justice.
In the pilot, both Tandy and Tyrone suffer great personal tragedies that revolve around corruption. In Tyrone’s case it’s police corruption. In Tandy’s, it’s corporate corruption. Both of their lives are changed forever when these two tragic events happen to them simultaneously. They are then forced to grow up in the shadow of this corruption. When their powers are re-actived in the first two episodes, they have an opportunity to use their powers to fight this corruption.
It’s not easy for either of them, however, as they have no idea how to use their powers, at first. As they get closer, their powers begin to make sense, but as with any first season superhero show, nothing is automatic, it must be earned, explored, tested, and tried. In this case, the pair will be tried through the fires of family, the police, and the deeply spiritual roots of New Orleans.
Is Cloak & Dagger Good?
Cloak & Dagger is very good. It’s a refreshing change of pace for superhero shows. It’s part teen-drama part social justice crusade led by two very young, very bright young stars. In an age when many young people are discovering their voices in the real world, it’s powerful to see that reflected on a Marvel show.
The young cast, the fantastic use of modern alternative pop music, and the dynamics of New Orleans make Cloak & Dagger a fresh show for Marvel fans to fall in love with. Tandy and Tyrone are sympathetic teens who, by the end of the first two episodes, you want to save, you want to root for, and you want to see succeed.
Cloak & Dagger premieres on Freeform, Thursday June 7.
