After the whole Defenders storyline went down as it did (in boredom), I was both glad and skeptical to see the announcement of another Marvel-inspired tv series. Cloak and Dagger is one of the probably few comics I didn’t read back in the days (2008 or such) when Valerie D’Orazio brought them back after their appearance in Runaways, so I was also curious to see what this was about.
As the pilot starts off, you might fear cliches: Dagger is a blonde girl with powers of light and comes from an upper class family; Cloak is a ghetto boy with powers of darkness and comes from the underground. Still, the series is able to surprise you with a much appreciated twist: after the tragedy that provides them with their origin story, the roles are reversed and the blonde becomes the thief while the boy goes to college. Well played.
Another change I welcomed was the getting rid of Cloak’s “hunger”, which in the original comics was satisfied only by feeding on Dagger: it was creepy and, honestly, a racist metaphor.
Beautiful psionic touch, the two characters can now see a glimpse of people’s fears (Cloak) and hopes (Dagger), which is a touch that goes nicely with their reverese personalities. So far, the “visions” have been one of the best parts of the series. We’ll see how they build up from there.
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