TV Show of the Week: Cloak and Dagger – Episodes 1 and 2

Yet another Marvel TV series to add to the ever increasing collection, and yes, it’s set in the still rapidly increasing cinematic universe. I admittedly forgot about this program before I saw it being advertised as an exclusive on Amazon Prime over here in the UK. It was a nicer surprise to see there were two episodes available to watch, and on Friday night after a particularly difficult day at work, that’s exactly what I did.

With each new Marvel television series, it gets further and further away from the films. The Netflix series, whilst they were finding their feet, made subtle references to the films, but gradually became further disassociated with each new series, and by the time Iron Fist came out, there was hardly a mention of the events in the films, and if I remember correctly, hardly any or absolutely no references made to the film’s continuity. When Runaways dropped, there wasn’t a mention at all. Maybe a couple of Easter eggs hidden in the background here and there, but nothing at all in the dialogue, allowing the series to expand and grow. Whilst we are only in the second episode of Cloak and Dagger, and the biggest film in the entire series, Infinity War still making tidal waves through us fans, I’m was happy to see it was its own thing.

There are obvious connections. The Darkforce Energy that has infected Cloak was previously established in Agent Carter, the prequel to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and the immediate sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, in series 2. It doesn’t need to make blatant references, because there already is a massive one, the energy.

With every adaptation, there are changes to the comics – the first big difference I noticed was the location of which the series is set in. Cloak and Dagger were introduced in a Spider-Man issue, which is set in New York. This series is set in New Orleans. I have no grief over that change whatsoever. In fact, I prefer that change. We can get new characters, new stories, without trying to fit them in the crowded New York City. It may be a big place, but there are already plenty of superheroes running around, it would be difficult to either try and justify why they Cloak and Dagger haven’t met with any of the Defenders, or keep the two of them confined to a specific area of New York. They need an entire city to run around in, and so moving locations is the best course of action. But the foundation of who Cloak and Dagger are as characters, their powers, their stories, they remain closely based on what we are familiar with.

The first two episodes shows us brief flashbacks to how they received their powers, and what they need to do to carry on now they’re older and standing on their own two feet. What happened during their childhood was traumatic, and there are still ripples in their adult life – they spent the first two episodes spontaneously encountering one another, before the cliff-hanger in episode 2. Episode 3 will explore their chemistry, and them conceiving many questions before attempting to answer them in the final seven episodes.

This series is only ten episodes long, which I praised Runaways for as it allowed the story to keep moving, not have too much time dedicated to filler or anything unnecessary, just constantly gave us what we wanted – and, even though it has been written by a different team of people, I firmly believe that’s what will happen during this series. It will give us what we want, and inevitably be successful enough to carry on into a second series. I don’t think anyone wants their series to be compared to the disastrously slow paced Inhumans. I watched it because I’m a fan of Marvel, but that doesn’t stop me from saying how awful it is compared to literally everything else Marvel has produced for its cinematic universe. It’s not one that I would jump to re-watch again. Cloak and Dagger is already proving to be a gripping and exciting series, so there shouldn’t be any reason to worry – I can’t see how it would go downhill from here.

For those who are wondering about the continuity between this series and Infinity War’s snap, this is before. I doubt they would address it, and I’m not expecting them to. All TV series that’s coming out this year, will be before Infinity War – and series that’ll drop after the Infinity War part 2, will be after that film.

Cloak and Dagger is yet another fresh take on superhero stories, and I would recommend to anyone even if they haven’t seen anything else. We, fans, know it’s in the cinematic universe and would appreciate any Easter eggs, but for those who don’t know what’s going on, can enjoy the series as it is, without having to catch up with all ten years of films, and other TV programs. Maybe later on down the line they may start crossing over, and I would not mind if they did, but they do have to establish themselves first – take their time.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)