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Three Days Before Filming Cloak And Dagger, They Had Not Been Cast Yet – The SDCC Panel

Published Sat, 21 Jul 2018 09:15:27 -0500

Last updated Sun, 22 Jul 2018 05:57:46 -0500

Erin Wilhelm write from San Diego Comic-Con,

Jeph Loeb, executive producer and head of Marvel Television convened the Marvel Cloak & Dagger panel like a grandfather convening a Sunday dinner. Joined by stars Olivia Holt (Dagger/Tandy), Aubrey Joseph (Cloak/Tyrone), Emma Lahana (Det. Brigid O'Reilly), Ally Maki (Mina Hess), and executive producer/showrunner Joe Pokaski, Loeb started the panel by leading the crowd in a Cloak & Dagger cheer and then showing clips from the eight episodes that have aired so far (there are two more episodes left in the season).

Whenever you cover a television show you always hear talk about the chemistry between the lead characters, who has it, and who doesn't. As soon as they walked out on stage together is was obvious that Holt and Joseph had chemistry. They seemed to have a certain knack for playing off of each other, physically and verbally, and were incredibly comfortable together. As if noticing this, Loeb brought up the subject of the casting of the roles of Cloak & Dagger.

Apparently, the show's creators had a hard time finding the right actors for the roles, and the Friday before they were due to start shooting on Monday, they still had not cast Cloak and Dagger. Aubrey had auditioned for the role on only 30 minutes notice, with about half that amount of time to study the script. Both Aubrey and Olivia had callbacks schedule for that Friday and were put together for a "chemistry read." In order to really put the actors to the test, the producers told the actors only that their characters had touched once, eight years ago, and their lives had changed and now they were meeting again for the first time. We know this as the graveyard scene from the show, but Holt and Joseph had not yet seen the script, and with only that one sentence of explanation were made to improvise the scene. Both actors described the experience as magical, and Pokaski said that at the time it made the hairs on the back of his arm stand up. Everyone knew Cloak and Dagger had been cast (however, Aubrey and Olivia did not get the formal news until later that weekend).

Holt then went on to describe how not only is her chemistry with Joseph vital to the show, but her chemistry and on-screen friendship with the other women on the show. Olivia lamented the lack of complicated, supportive, intelligent female friendships on television and was genuinely thrilled that Cloak & Dagger is the exception.

After earlier having led the crowd in a cheer asking for Cloak & Dagger to be renewed for a second season, Pokaski appeared to get a text during the panel that he then showed to Loeb. At that point Loeb and Pokaski announced that Cloak & Dagger had officially been renewed for a second season (previously reported as breaking news here on Bleeding Cool). Once the crowd and the panel had celebrated, it was time for the Q&A.

Aubrey, in response to a question from a fan from Louisiana, discussed the intense connection between the show, the cast and crew, and the city of New Orleans. He described how he felt that the hope of the city, despite the numerous challenges by its citizens, was a fantastic backdrop for the relationship between Tandy and Tyrone. Both characters have had rough lives and have had to keep picking themselves up and moving on, much like the city itself. Olivia added that the cast and crew were in New Orleans when Hurricane Harvey landed and that experience gave them new insight into what the city faces regularly (Olivia also mentioned how much she loves the New Orleans food).

Other fan questions during the Q&A had to do with where Cloak & Dagger lies within the larger MCU. Pokaski pointed out that one of the reasons the show is set in New Orleans is that within the MCU, New York is pretty well protected, they don't need any other superheros. But then Loeb expanded that thought and explained that the events of Cloak & Dagger (until and unless stated otherwise) take place prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War. However both Loeb and Pokaski admitted to easter eggs and references to things that also exist in other MCU properties.

Wrapping up, Loeb played a reel of bloopers, once again highlighting the chemistry between the actors on set and the fun they appear to have working together. And finally, with only moments remaining, they showed the tiniest of second-long clips with a monstrously eerie feel to it. I guess fans will have to wait until season two to find out what it means.