Freeform officially canceled ‘Cloak & Dagger’ after the last episode of its second season aired about five months ago. There had been no news about the show in that time, and reportedly the options for the cast– fronted by Olivia Holt (Tandy Bowen/Dagger) and Aubrey Joseph (Tyrone Johnson/Cloak)– ran out earlier this week, so this cancellation was something of a formality.
RELATED: Not Surprisingly, Freeform Has Cancelled ‘Cloak & Dagger’ After Two Seasons
Joe Pokaski developed ‘Cloak & Dagger’, based on characters from Marvel Comics, and acted as showrunner. He took to Twitter to share his feelings about the ending of this series:
This was the first pilot I’d ever written, i was very green, and I put my heart into it, and then it was put in a drawer. When I got the call five years later that they wanted to make it, I wasn’t surprised. Because you can’t keep Tandy and Tyrone in a drawer.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
This time around, there was no reason to pull punches. We found a force of nature director like @gpbmadeit to help tell this coming of age story that put #Marvel characters and situations on the screen that didn’t look like what we had seen before.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
They were but two of a troupe of amazing actors, heroes and villains, and sometimes both (I’m looking at you, @emmaklahana ) who brought their own truth to our fiction and pulled me into stories I knew were made up.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
We put together the best crew in television. The amount of art, sweat, and tears poured into every frame, with a limited amount of resources, and a dedication to diversity and justice. We did the impossible. And became a family and I hope we remain as such.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
Most importantly, we had a strong group of fans picking up what we were putting down. Who took conversations about privilege out of our church and into their lives. Who knew what it meant when we put a man in a refrigerator.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
There is no human better at second-guessing himself than me, I swear. And while my imagination is active, I can’t think of what I would have done different with this great power and great responsibility in our corner of the Marvel Universe. I’m so proud of what we got to do.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
…because you can’t keep Tandy & Tyrone in a drawer.
— Joe Pokaski (@JoePokaski) October 24, 2019
Holt and Joseph will reprise their roles on a guest-appearance on Hulu’s ‘Runaways’ when it returns for its third season on December 13. As I predicted, fans are taking to social media in an effort to salvage ‘Cloak & Dagger’, with Hulu being targeted in particular. But with the behind-the-scenes shuffling of Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige being placed in charge of the TV division as well as movies and comics, and the departure of Marvel Television chief Jeph Loeb, don’t expect ANY existing Marvel live-action shows to stick around much longer, as Feige will likely rebuild the TV division from the ground up to reflect the film universe. In fact, it’s already happening, with the introduction of various movie-based shows coming to Disney+.
Were you a fan of ‘Cloak & Dagger’? Are you sad to see it go?