Wednesday 1 February 2017

Cloak And Dagger and recurring origins

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has found its fifth live-action outlet after movies, short films, ABC and Netflix, with Cloak And Dagger coming to Freeform, formerly ABC Family.

It sounds like they may not keep the secret illegal drug trial that kickstarted their powers in the comics. For one thing, it puts them a bit too close to the experiments that created both Captain America and Luke Cage, the chemical accidents that empowered Spider-Man, Daredevil and Jessica Jones and the power cocktail given to pre-cyborg Deathlok in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Then again, we already have some similar origin stories across the setting, sometimes interconnected in the adaptations and sometimes just because similar origins crop up in the source material over the decades - ABC, the films and Netflix will all have different heroes who learned to use different ancient powers in different hidden temples somewhere in Asia once Iron Fist starts.

It would be much simpler if they could make them mutants. Making them Inhumans doesn’t really make things simpler, as everyone who followed the ancient alien genetic manipulation and temples in that S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline can attest.

If you’re building a universe from the ground up, a consistent origin can help ground it, but do you leave room for wizards in a sci-fi-based superhero setting?

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