WonderCon Anaheim 2018 brought with it the talent and creative team behind Marvel Television and Freeform’s newest and highly anticipated series, Cloak and Dagger. Series stars Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt, along with executive producers Joe Pokaski, Jeph Loeb and Gina Prince-Bythewood, who directed the show’s pilot, spoke with OMFGTV to discuss the upcoming series and what to expect when it premieres this summer.
Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb began by delving into the rationale behind telling the story of Tandy and Tyrone for television. “Every show that we look at comes from a place that asks, ‘What can we say that’s different from our other shows?’ When we started looking at what’s happening around us now, what really became important to us was how people are affecting the world around us. Whether they’re marching on Washington to talk about the horrors of Parkland, or whether they’re just communicating about what’s happening in the world. We looked at that and we said, ‘That’s a voice that we need to have.'”
“We had a network that was looking for young heroes, we had two young heroes we were interested in telling a story about, we had a showrunner in Joe Pokaski, who was passionate about Ty and Tandy and not so much Cloak and Dagger, Loeb continued. “People ask us all the time, ‘Do you think there’s too many superhero shows?’ I say, ‘I don’t know, we don’t make superhero shows!'”
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“I think the thing that holds all Marvel TV shows and movies together is that they all start with characters,” Pokaski said. “We wanted it to feel a little more intimate.”
Pokaski also detailed the decision to move the series from the comics’ original setting of New York City to New Orleans. “It felt like New York has had enough superheroes, and when Jeph brought up New Orleans, I got very excited. It’s a city that survives, whether it’s Katrina or deep water, and it’s a city that needs heroes.”
Prince-Bythewood spoke highly of Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph in the title roles. “Three days before we had to leave, we did not have the cast,” Prince-Bythewood said. “We couldn’t find them. I wanted real teenagers. I hate watching high school shows and they look like they’re thirty. We couldn’t find teenagers that could act. And then, Friday night, Olivia and Aubrey came in, and we knew separately, but when we put them together, their chemistry was insane.”
“I think me and Olivia saw from the beginning the chemistry that we had,” Joseph said. “It was easy for me, it’s easy to work with Liv. All I have to do is come in and bring it at the same level she is.” “I feel the same way,” Holt said. “It’s so important for two actors who are going to be working together a lot to feel just as passionate about the project as much as you do.”
“Tandy and Tyrone have a very complicated relationship,” Holt continued. “Their relationship is an emotional rollercoaster. They love each other one day, and hate each other the next. I think it’s a lot that they go through and it’s a beautiful way of telling it. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like their story before.”
When asked about the mysterious character being played by Emma Lahana, Pokaski said, “I can tell you nothing about her character and it drives me crazy. Here’s what I can tell you: She’s going to show up in the second episode, she’s going to say exactly one sentence and she’s going to blow you away.”
Cloak and Dagger premieres June 7th on Freeform.
