2. Heroes For Hire
What Is It? In the 1970s, two big pop culture trends were blaxploitation and martial arts films, and both these characters were created by Marvel to capitalize on that (the 70s was really a goldmine for great Marvel properties). First was Luke Cage or Power Man as hes sometimes called. Created in 1972 by Archie Goodwin and John Romita, Sr., Cage was a street tough named Carl Lucas who was wrongly convicted and sent to prison. In exchange for parole, he volunteered for an experimental procedure that inadvertently granted him superhuman strength and steel-hard skin. Escaping, he took on the name of Luke Cage and went into business for himself as a Hero For Hire. In 1974, Roy Thomas and Gil Kane created Iron Fist, who was born Danny Rand in New York but raised in the mystic city of Kun Lun from a young age. Trained by Lei Kung the Thunderer, Rand proves himself to be one of the most gifted students and obtains the power of the Iron Fist by defeating the dragon known as Shou-Lau, the Undying. When Kun Lun appears on Earth once more, Rand seeks out his fathers killer. Iron Fists series was cancelled and the Power Man title was close to cancellation as well, so to save the book, the two characters were combined in a series called Power Man and Iron Fist. In this series, Cage and Rand became one of comic book's greatest bromances. The two formed Heroes For Hire, a private investigation firm that also featured appearances by two other Marvel heroines, the Daughters of the Dragon (Misty Knight and Colleen Wing). Think Lethal Weapon or Miami Vice meets superheroes.
How To Do It Right? Both Luke Cage and Iron Fist have been in development hell for a long time. At one point, Ray Park was slated to play Iron Fist in a movie (could be cool), and John Singleton has been attached to direct a Luke Cage movie starring Tyrese Gibson (please, dear god, no). Also in January 2013, Marvel Televisions Jeph Loeb
indicated the potential of a Heroes For Hire movie. Both characters appeared as Heroes For Hire in an episode of the short-lived Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes series, and theyre currently supporting characters in Disney XDs Ultimate Spider-Man series, so Marvel clearly has an interest in these two. A TV series might be the better move, since youd have to either ignore or completely rush through Cage and Iron Fists origins, but a series could give you the opportunity to reveal more about them in individual episodes over time. A series would also allow guest appearances by other Marvel characters, like the aforementioned Daughters of the Dragon, the White Tiger, Black Cat, Paladin, and others. Now we just need to get Michael Jai White to play Luke Cage, and were in business.