SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "First Light," the series premiere of Cloak & Dagger.

Freeform's Cloak & Dagger has officially arrived. In "First Light," the explosive series premiere, protagonists Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson discovered they both have powers beyond their wildest imagining. However, unlike the comics, they weren't the victims of an experimental drug ring or test subjects for an illicit medical procedure. Instead, they were created totally by accident, thanks to situations totally outside of their control.

Though their powers didn't truly manifest until their teens, Tandy and Tyrone got their powers when they were just children. Tandy's story began at ballet class, when the young girl realized her father had forgotten to pick her up. Using a flip phone, she called him, only to discover he'd gotten caught up in his work at Roxxon Oil Corporation. He came to get her in his car hours later, as night fell over the city. On the ride home, he took several work calls, which distracted him to the point he swerved into the lane of oncoming traffic. With a truck bearing down on them, he veered straight off a bridge, crashing the car in a lake.

RELATED: How Roxxon Quietly Became the Biggest Threat in the MCU (After Thanos)

On the other hand, Tyrone spent the afternoon trying to help his brother Billy. After Billy's friends tried to pressure him into stealing a car radio, Tyrone did the deed for him in an effort to help his brother out. When Tyrone confessed what he had done, Billy suggested returning it to make things right. On the way back, however, they were intercepted by a cop car. Billy and Tyrone took off for the docks by the same lake, with the cops in pursuit. Billy stopped at the edge of the dock as Tyrone hid out-of-sight. Startled by a loud noise, a cop with a distinctive scar down his face fired off a round of shots, killing Billy and knocking him into the river. In shock, Tyrone dove into the lake after him.

Just as Tandy and Tyrone hit the water, a Roxxon rig exploded and fell into the lake. As the rig sank into the water, a shockwave pulsed out of it, engulfing the two small figures. Shortly thereafter, Tandy began to emanate with light, while Tyrone was cloaked in darkness. Terrified, she reached out her hand for help, only for Tyrone to grab it. Together, they made it to the shore, where they made their separate ways.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='How%20Tandy%20and%20Tyrone%20Got%20Their%20Powers%20in%20the%20Comics']



Cloak and Dagger have two different origins in the comics, both of which seem to have inspired the show. In the main Marvel Comics universe, Tandy and Tyrone were runaways who fled to New York City. Tandy hoped to escape a family that didn't care about her, while Tyrone wanted to get away from guilt of his friend Billy's death, who was killed by a cop during a robbery gone wrong. As soon as they stepped off the bus, they were both swooped up by drug dealers, who kidnapped them and smuggled them over to a defunct lab on Ellis Island. They were experimented on as part of the mob's mission to develop a drug cheaper and more addictive than heroin, ultimately receiving superpowers as the other victims died around them. They escaped by leaping into the ocean and swimming to the shore.

On the other hand, the Ultimate versions of Cloak and Dagger were the product of a medical experiment gone wrong. High school sweethearts Tandy and Tyrone were on their way to prom when their limo was crushed in a car crash. They were critically injured in the accent, so the Roxxon Brain Trust declared them medically dead and smuggled the two teens to a facility to be experimented on. Roxxon's experiments involved Dark Matter, leading Tandy and Tyrone to develop the same powers as their main Marvel universe counterparts. They became too powerful for Roxxon to contain, and so they were able to escape the evil corporation's clutches.

RELATED: Loeb Clarifies Infinity War Timeline for Marvel TV’s Upcoming Seasons

In keeping with both origins, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Cloak and Dagger are also teenagers. Like the main Marvel universe, Tandy feels unloved by her mother, while Tyrone lives with the guilt of Billy's death. Additionally, they developed their powers for the first time in a body of water. On the other hand, Roxxon was indirectly responsible for the development of Cloak and Dagger's powers, as in the Ultimate timeline. As such, the show blends elements from both origin stories, creating something entirely new while paying homage to the source material.

Airing Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT on Freeform, Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, as well as Andrea Roth as Tandy’s mother Melissa Bowen, Gloria Reuben as Tyrone’s mother Adina Johnson, Miles Mussenden as Tyrone’s father Michael Johnson, Carl Lundstedt as Tandy’s partner in crime Liam, James Saito as Dr. Bernard Sanjo and J.D. Evermore as Detective Connors.