While news about Cloak and Dagger has been sparse since Marvel TV’s Jeph Leob last discussed them, the presence of Cloak and Dagger hasn’t been forgotten. Speculation is half the fun and speculation helps build up excitement for potential television projects, especially ones that people really want to see happen. Consequently, we’re pleased to present to you five potential Rogues Gallery villains for the intrepid runaway pair.
The coolest thing about Cloak and Dagger in my personal opinion is the idea that the series could make jumps to multiple different Marvel properties. If we can’t have Marvel properties that connect in meaningful ways, then we should have characters that could connect various marvel properties from Television to film. Cloak and Dagger, by casting young actors, could be that property with the characters appearing on everything from Agents of SHIELD to The Defenders.
You might remember Cloak and Dagger as a young runaway duo who meet in New York City. Tyrone (Cloak) initially plans on robbing Tandy until Tandy is robbed by another person. He takes back her purse, defending her, until the two fall into the hands of some unscrupulous businessmen and women who are testing a synthetic drug on runaways with some pretty nasty results. It ends with Tyrone becoming Cloak and Tandy becoming Dagger, two characters who are bound together with their abilities.
THE MAGGIA
In short, The Maggia are the ones who are responsible for creating Cloak and Dagger. A crime syndicate similar to the Red Hand from Defenders and the Roxxon corporation, the Maggia are just that – a typical Italian family. With members ranging from Count Nefaria (who you might remember as the onetime father of Madame Masque) to Lineage (A struggling Maggia Patriarch who discovered his inhuman DNA by accident and became a major foe of Ms. Marvel) the Maggia are in essence responsible for creating Cloak and Dagger.
If you assume that Lineage is the one behind this particular “drug”, perhaps hoping to make more inhuman soldiers like himself (or perhaps using Doctor Radcliffe’s technology since Hive taught him how to make inhumans?) You have a set up for turning Tyrone and Tandy into inhumans themselves. Therefore it makes sense that Lineage, or the Maggia in some form would represent the primary antagonists that Cloak and Dagger would face.
KINGPIN
If we’re shooting for another “It’s all connected” premise, bringing KingPin in for a cameo to Cloak and Dagger would just be plain cool. Fisk’s unphased demeanor has chilled us for two seasons on Daredevil, and having him go up against children, particularly powered children, would be a fascinating thing to see.
He doesn’t even have to make a particularly long cameo, which is the brilliance of it. A one shot at the end as a failing member of the Maggia crime family (possibly Lineage himself) faces up to the King-Pin of New York would be beautiful. Seeing Fisk, who is undeniably human face off against powered individuals and be unafraid is a must for Marvel television and hopefully something that we’ll see sooner. In the meantime let’s hope that he’ll appear on this show, as Cloak and Dagger attempt an ill fated assassination attempt against him.
MEPHISTO/NIGHTMARE THE DEMON
Cloak’s powers take him into the metaphysical realm and the “Hunger” that he has can traditionally only be soothed by Tandy. However his powers have been frequently sought after by dark and demonic forces, and with the presence of both Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange in the MCU, introducing a supernatural villain into the mix could be a great way to bring Cloak and Dagger into new realms that other shows have barely scratched the surface of.
Mephisto is responsible for quite a bit of trouble, has ties to Ghost Rider, and Nightmare is one of his minor imps. While asking Dormammu to make a cameo is a bit of a stretch, seeing these two on the big screen would be a pretty powerful push towards a unique Rogues Gallery and a cool collection of story lines.
CARNAGE
Wishful thinking but a lot of fun, adding Carnage to the mix involves Spider-Man and a lot of younger New York heroes. In one of their previous stories, Cloak and Dagger teamed up with Spider-Man to take down a rampaging Carnage. Carnage isn’t even a remote dream in Sony’s eye, but Marvel hopefully has considered the terrifying creature. While he’ll most likely end up in a future Spider-Man film, seeing Cloak and Dagger make the jump to film to help the New York based hero do battle against him would be a comic book fan’s dream come true.
THE PRIDE
My primary choice for chief antagonists after the Maggia. The Pride are a Los Angeles based group of super villains whose children ultimately become the runaways. Believing that they were doing good, the six parents (and their offspring) become corrupted by power in serving entities from a magical realm. While the stories might be better saved for the series (since it is coming after all), The Pride and Cloak and Dagger do have a run in.
The obvious emotional connection between Tandy and Tyrone both coming from abusive homes and then falling prey (so to speak) to the Pride is a goldmine for stories. What counts as a one shot in the comics could transform into a series long arc culminating in the Pride’s defeat and Cloak and Dagger’s reuniting with the forces of good.