The Reviews For MARVEL's CLOAK & DAGGER Are In - Here's What The Critics Think

Marvel TV is encroaching into the territory of The CW's Arrowverse with their own teen-romance drama in Cloak & Dagger. Will the Freeform comic adaptation offer more than will-they/won't-they subplots?

By MarkJulian - May 24, 2018 06:05 PM EST

Filed Under: Cloak and Dagger

The Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph led Cloak & Dagger TV adaptation received a huge showing of support from Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who stated, "I wanted to see this superhero duo five years ago. Both of you brought your personality to the role. That's the key thing, just as long as it's breathing. our characters are dealing with real issues that young people and teenagers are dealing with, that's what's cool about Cloak & Dagger."

That's certainly a ringing endorsement from the Infinity War star but what of critics who don't receive obscenely gross paychecks from Marvel. From The Hollywood Reporter to Forbes, here's what critics thought of the Joe Pokaski (Heroes) produced show's pilot or first four episodes.

If you're intrigued by what the reviewers are stating and the footage revealed thus far, Cloak & Dagger will premiere June 07 at 8PM on Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family).

MILD SPOILERS follow.

"A hallmark of Marvel's push into television has been shows with no particular rush to get viewers to the superhero heart of the narrative...Naysayers might call it glacial storytelling, but fans appreciate Marvel TV's commitment to developing characters and location, even at the expense of plot. offer that by way of warning that I've seen the first four episodes of Freeform's Cloak & Dagger, and some really obvious things are still missing — in particular, characters who call themselves "Cloak" or "Dagger." This means that through 40 percent of the first Cloak & Dagger season, a show about superheroes still boasts no superheroes, no mission and no clear bad guy. "

---The Hollywood Reporter

"The show will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It exists somewhere between the light-hearted, broad stroke nature of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and very mature dramatic overtones of any of the Netflix series like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger is the right kind of show for what Freeform is trying to do. It’s going to age up the network while also giving fans of moody YA something to sink their teeth into over the summer."

---Forbes

"First Light' does a great job of introducing these characters with room to improve. Tandy and Tyrone make an unlikely connection due to fate."

---Comicverse

"While Cloak and Dagger hits on some tough issues, it doesn’t take away from the joy of the show. You are guaranteed to feel a full range of emotions, and it’s all for the best."

---Black Girl Nerds

"Joseph and Holt have tremendous chemistry onscreen. The first hour of what will be a two-hour pilot brings them together very sparingly, but the moments they share onscreen are electric. In an intriguing departure from the comic, here Tandy’s the street kid while Ty’s living at home with his wealthy and (at least so far) seemingly attentive parents. But they have a shared tragedy in their past, an offshore rig explosion that robbed each of them of someone they love and first brought them together when they were just kids."

---Slash/Film

"The two young leads are immensely good. They’ll be the reason the watch."

---The AV Club

"In the comics, Cloak and Dagger mostly focused on the drug trade rather than fighting supervillains, and while drugs definitely play a role in the pilot, there are also plenty of other plot threads that have been laid out for our heroes to explore in the first season. This helps keep the pilot grounded with real-world stakes in a similar way to Marvel and Netflix's street-level heroes, and it's clear the show isn't going to shy away from challenging topics that will resonate with Freeform's young adult audience. There's no clear, overarching villain, at least in the pilot, but you also don't miss one, since the lead characters and their issues are engaging enough to carry the episode."

---IGN

"The performances of the young actors is the true strength of the series. They are some of the best I have seen in all of Marvel Television and Freeform. Despite the black-and-white nature of their powers, this is not a series that deals with black-and-white issues. The nuanced performances allow the characters to convey that complexity without having to say a word. Make no mistake, Holt and Joseph are phenomenal."

---LaughingPlace.com

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51 Comments

1 2

JeighJeigh - 5/24/2018, 6:22 PM

Sounds good to me. I’m in.

MrCamw1 - 5/24/2018, 6:27 PM

Sounds pretty good so far.

ODanil - 5/24/2018, 6:31 PM

it's like they are reviweing the acting, not the show.

BatmanBeenDrinking - 5/24/2018, 9:21 PM

@ODanil - shouldn't they

asherman93 - 5/24/2018, 9:44 PM

@ODanil - To be fair, these are the titular heroes of the show, and thus what the show centers around. While other issues could crop up, the its the main duo who will help demonstrate if the show has legs... because if all else fails, so long as they knock it out of the park, the show can survive.

HeavyMetal4Life - 5/24/2018, 6:42 PM

Glad to hear its good, looking forward to it.

Also, one of those reviews described SHIELD as light-hearted. That reviewer obviously doesn't watch SHIELD...

LordHarryLatts - 5/24/2018, 6:43 PM

I don't know anything about the characters, but I'll give it a shot.

MarvelDCAllDay - 5/24/2018, 6:43 PM

I personally read that as not bad but boring. But that's just my tastes

Spock0Clock - 5/24/2018, 6:48 PM

Chemistry between Tyrone and Tandy can't make the show good on its own, but it's a necessary component for it to be worthwhile as an adaptation. Sounds like they got that.

Everything else sounds right in that Marvel TV "7/10" zone. May come down to personal taste on how well it's received. Interesting to hear it's maybe not as dark as the trailers make it seem.

MiopTop - 5/26/2018, 9:29 AM

@Spock0Clock - "that Marvel TV "7/10" zone."

Agree completely. And it's weird how much that zone seems to be growing.

Anyway, I hope Cloak and Dagger is a good surprise. I feel like, other than AoS, there hasn't been a MCU TV show to exceed my expectations since Jessica Jones season 1.

JizzerTron - 5/24/2018, 6:57 PM

I always thought these characters were cool so I’m hopeful for this.

blitzburgh - 5/24/2018, 7:24 PM

Freeform...... Meh... I'll watch the first couple and that's it, if you can't hook me after that then it ain't worth it

EskimoJ - 5/24/2018, 7:25 PM

@blitzburgh - You can watch the first two online right now, albeit in Russian.

newmutantsRETURNS - 5/24/2018, 8:37 PM

@blitzburgh - my thoughts exactly

blitzburgh - 5/25/2018, 3:04 AM

@EskimoJ - lol thanks

Hammbone - 5/24/2018, 7:31 PM

Great to hear...I'll be watching.

PsychoticSpaceRaccoon - 5/24/2018, 7:43 PM

Lord have mercy.

Ronan3Accuser - 5/24/2018, 7:56 PM

I can only handle one Runaway esque show from Marvel at a time. Their T.V. division needs a bust. Punisher was a massive step in the right direction. Luke Cage looks good and I have always loved A.O.S. Daredevil is their flagship now for T.V. Bringing it every episode for a T.V. show is hard work. Every good television show has suffered from this. Being too many episodes per season or budget wise. There is a fine balance to have for television.

Talontd - 5/25/2018, 6:19 AM

@Ronan3Accuser - God, all those Netflix shows would be SOOOO good if they left the budgets alone, but dropped the episode count to 8-10 per show...

You're netflix, just go where the story takes you and cut it when you want...

DD S1 = 10eps
JJ S1 = 12eps
LC S1 = 8eps
IF S1 = 5eps
DD S2 = 10eps
JJ S2 = 8eps

That's how much quality content I feel each of those shows had...trying to strech sh!t hurt each of those seasons to varying degrees, imo...

Ronan3Accuser - 5/24/2018, 7:57 PM

Boost

newmutantsRETURNS - 5/24/2018, 8:36 PM

2 episodes or bust

Ha1frican - 5/24/2018, 9:04 PM

I just want to know if it’s actually in the MCU or not. I was really disappointed in The Runaways having literally no connection to the MCU after Loeb specifically said it wasn’t part of it

1 2

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