Character Breakdowns and Casting Rumors Emerge as 'Cloak And Dagger' Prepares to Start Filming!

2017 is set to be a big year for Marvel Television. The studio is working on not two but three Netflix series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 is proving to be a hit, and The Inhumans is about to start filming in Hawaii. Meanwhile, the Cloak and Dagger series — which has been stuck in development since April 2016 — is about to become a reality!

What Do We Know?

Back in November 2016, we learned that showrunner Joe Pokaski was working on rewriting his script, and the show was delayed, now working towards a winter 2018 launch. Shooting will begin in New Orleans on February 14, so we've been expecting news for a while.

Luckily, the Hashtag Show and MCU Exchange have been happy to oblige! The Hashtag Show has just gotten the character and show descriptions, while MCU Exchange was contacted by a "new source" with casting information. A pretty reliable site, MCU Exchange followed a breadcrumb trail on social media to verify this. It's the same kind of approach I took when I suggested Joe Manganiello was playing the part of Deathstroke in the DCEU, so while their rumors are far from the gospel truth, fans should take them seriously.

So, what do we know? Here's the Hashtag Show's video; note that, as is always the case with these casting calls, the character's real names are hidden.

The show description is only slightly expanded from the version we got back in April 2016. Here it is in all its glory:

"Described as a superhero love story, Cloak and Dagger is based on the titular comic book duo (also known as Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson) who have appeared in Marvel Comics classics, including Spider-Man and X-Men stories. The live-action interracial romance follows the duo, two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers while falling in love.

Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness.

They quickly learn that they are better together than apart, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging."

It's exciting to see Marvel branching out into new genres. So that's the series; what have we learned about the cast?

According to the MCU Exchange, Noah Gray-Cabey is about to enter the MCU as Cloak. Superhero fans will know that name well — Noah played the character of Micah in Heroes, and reprised his role in Heroes Reborn in 2015. More recently, he's played the part of Dr. Elliot Dixon in Code Black.

Significantly, Noah has recently been followed on Twitter by Cloak and Dagger showrunner Joe Pokaski; and Pokaski only tends to follow either people he's worked with, or people associated with Marvel.

The Hashtag Show's character description of Cloak is fascinating:

"When [he] was an open boy he was fearless. But then he made a mistake and it cost him dearly. So [he] grew up in fear, scared of a world he couldn't control.

So he controlled what he could.

Keeping his head down, focusing on school and basketball.

Locking in on fear.

But is that brave boy still in there?"

In the comics, Cloak was linked to the Darkforce — an extra-dimensional power we've already seen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. We don't yet know whether or not this link will be retained in the series.

Dagger

Meanwhile, if the MCU Exchange is correct, Debby Ryan (of Jessie fame) will be joining the MCU as Dagger! Ryan doesn't tend to follow many people on Twitter, and follows even less shows. One of the exceptions? You guessed it; Cloak and Dagger.

The Hashtag Show presents a fascinating glimpse of the character's MCU version:

"A plucky open Southern girl who grew up with everything. She was always full of light. Then an accident took away everything.

Now she's a cynic who steals from tourists to make ends meet.

Life took from her.

She's going to take back.

But can that light be rekindled?"

In the comics, Dagger is the light to Cloak's darkness; her light-daggers can actually energize him, and sate the terrible hunger for life that is the curse of his powers. Again, we don't yet know if that element will be played out in the series.

The Hashtag Show's character breakdowns are fascinating, giving us a sense of just what kind of show Marvel wants to make with Cloak and Dagger. It's clear that this is going to be a strong character piece, and Cloak and Dagger's success will depend on the dynamic between the two stars. Noah Gray-Cabey and Debby Ryan have never worked together on the same show before, so we can't yet say how this is going to pan out.

With filming due to begin in February, we can expect a lot more news — and casting confirmation — over the next few weeks. Watch this space!

(Source: MCU Exchange,The Hollywood Reporter)