SUPERHERO TV
We’re either in a golden age of superheroic television or an annoying glut of it
“Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” is the kind of show that reminds you why we’re drawn to superheroes in the first place.
We’re either in a golden age of superheroic television or an annoying glut of it, depending on your perspective. Either way, we’re flush with more shows based on comics and superheroes than ever before, and their genuine appeal can get lost in fan theories, Easter eggs and crossover episodes.
Enter “Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” (Thursday, 8 p.m., ABC Spark), a ray of light (and darkness) in a sea of Spandex that may just be the purest superhero saga on TV. Created by Joe Pokaski (Underground, Heroes), Cloak and Dagger is the first Marvel show from its corporate cousin, Freeform, and it’s well-suited to the youth-skewing network. The series is earnest, simple and utterly winning, an emotional and stylish teen drama that mixes in mysticism and metaphor.
At the centre are Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph), a black, upper-middle class student athlete, and Tandy (Olivia Holt), a white, formerly wealthy runaway. (Eventually, he’s Cloak and she’s Dagger, but they don’t adopt their superhero names in the first four episodes made available for review.)
The series opens with the characters as small children who experience a devastating loss and exposure to a toxic explosion on the same night, linking them both psychologically and supernaturally. The explosion gives them powers (Tyrone teleports, Tandy conjures light daggers and both have visions) which surface only once the pair reunites as teens.
Too many current superhero series are exhausting and weighted with extraneous heroes and sidekicks (CW’s DC Comics series); dour themes and bloated seasons (Netflix’s Marvel shows); or simply their own pretentiousness and mythology (FX’s Legion).
Cloak and Dagger deals with serious subject matter: Tandy squats in a church and robs rich kids to get by, Tyrone appears to be depressed by the loss of his brother as a child. Yet despite this, it manages to be light and breezy. Episodes are well-paced and often use an unconventional structure, jumping around in time.
But its great strengths are its restraint and simplicity. The show unfolds slowly and delicately, with greater initial focus on its enchanting young leads than their new-found superpowers. Both teens have gone through horrific trauma, and their powers manifest as a metaphor for posttraumatic stress disorder, forcing them to relive the worst parts of their lives, often quite literally through their vision powers. Every scene in which they use their powers is deeply emotional; this is a superhero show for fans who prefer meaning over martial arts.
Holt (a former Disney Channel star) and Joseph are appealing young talents with good chemistry and puppy-dog eyes. The acting is more natural than typical superhero dramas.
The pilot is directed by Gina PrinceBythewood (Love and Basketball), who gives the series, set and filmed in New Orleans, a leisurely style, and plays with the light/dark dichotomy that is part of Tandy and Tyrone’s powers.
Wisely, the series shirks the racial stereotypes and sexist costumes of the dated comics on which it’s based, and also doesn’t shy away from racial issues. Tyrone’s mother fears he could be killed by police, he’s bullied by white teammates on his basketball team and he fears being perceived as a thug.
Cloak and Dagger isn’t a joyful series — it’s an often sombre coming-of-age story of two kids deeply traumatized but trying to heal — but it’s joyful to watch it unfold. And isn’t that how a superhero should make you feel?