Freeform – Disney’s television network, previously known as ABC Family – has given the greenlight to Cloak And Dagger, and it’s big news for the ABC offshoot. While the main network boasts Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter on its roster, and Marvel’s Most Wanted and John Ridley’s Marvel project on its development slate, Freeform has been slower to jump into the superhero pool. Cloak And Dagger will change that, though, bringing a teen romance of super proportions to its younger audience.
Cloak and Dagger are actually two teenage runaways named Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson. Tandy is a 16-year-old girl who runs away from her millionaire mother in Ohio, due to emotional neglect. Tyrone is a 17-year-old boy with a speech impediment, who runs away from his Boston home after failing to prevent his friend being shot by the police. Both Tandy and Tyrone arrive in New York City where they cross paths and, as they are helping each other out, they are abducted by a drug gang. A criminal chemist tries to test a new drug on the pair, but it only serves to turn them into superheroes. Tandy is able to create deadly daggers of light, and Tyrone is engulfed by a darkness that can absorb others to their doom. He proceeds to hide his new form with a sizeable cloak.
The Marvel comic book duo was created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan, and debuted in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 in 1982. While the characters have appeared in animation, they have never before been adapted for live-action television, so Freeform’s Cloak And Dagger series is an exciting prospect.
The network has issued a straight-to-series order, indicating a high level of confidence in the concept of the project – particularly since there has, as yet, been no writer assigned. It is safe to say, however, that competition will be high for the two lead roles – and we may well see the discovery of some brand new talent.
