New Marvel TV series planned alongside US remake of Misfits
Get ready for a LOT of youthful superheroes
After the success of Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Daredevil and Jessica Jones it’s no surprise to hear that Marvel is planning yet another live-action superhero series to slot into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – but their latest project is a little bit different.
According to Variety, US network Freeform (the youth-skewed branch of Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter’s ABC) has greenlit a full series for Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, described as “a superhero love story” and based on the titular comic-book duo of the same name.
In the comics, the two heroes (real names Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen) are two runaways given powers by shadowy forces, with Cloak able to envelop others in darkness and teleport great distances while Dagger creates projectiles formed of hard light.
However, the hunger of Cloak’s dark side requires Dagger to “feed” it with her abilities, creating a co-dependent relationship that causes problems as they work together to battle crime.
At the moment the TV adaptation (also described as an “interracial romance”) has no cast or writers attached, but it seems clear that Freeform is looking to move into the YA superhero business.
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Which means it should be no surprise to hear the network’s OTHER big announcement this week, which is that they will be remaking e4’s cult “ASBO superheroes” hit Misfits for a US audience (though apparently without the involvement of original creator Howard Overman).
Gossip Girl and The OC creator Josh Schwartz has been hired to spearhead the show, whose original premise followed a group of youths with community service orders who were granted superpowers by a mysterious storm. But as they quickly discover, they weren't the only ones with strange new abilities...
All together, this seems like a concerted move by Freeform to attract older 18-34 audience, though it remains to be seen how the family-friendly network (previously known as ABC Family), will deal with the more adult elements of both TV adaptations. After all, Misfits was full of bloody murder, sex, swearing and drug use, while Cloak and Dagger’s powers come from being injected with experimental heroin and a lot of their adventures focus on their murderous attacks on the illegal drug trade.
But whatever the final result, it looks like we’ll be getting a LOT more young heroes in the coming years to Snapchat with Spider-Man while battling the forces of evil. Kids today, eh?
