‘Marvel’s Cloak And Dagger’ Star Olivia Holt Reacts To ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ Talks #ItEndsWithUs

“Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” Season 2 shows Tandy Bowen trying to figure out how to help her community with her new superpowers, and her portrayer Olivia Holt seems to be doing the same. The actress is using her platform to help educate kids on the dangers of opioid abuse.

Holt has partnered with Walgreen’s #ItEndsWithUs campaign, and she’ll speak to thousands of students about the opioid epidemic at WE Day in Los Angeles on Thursday. The actress spoke to International Business Times about why the cause is important to her, but of course, she had to answer a few burning Marvel questions too.

International Business Times: You’ve been working with WE Day for a while now. What do you like about the organization?

Holt: Well, I love working with WE Day because I learn so much whenever I attend, whether I’m hosting or co-hosting or presenting or just going for a quick speech. I always take something away, and I think I wish I had something like that when I was a kid in middle school. I wish I had something that was helping me and encouraging me to continue to make the world that we live in a better place and whether that’s something smaller in my community or something bigger on a more global scale, they educate you on certain things that you wouldn’t have known about.

IBT: You’re going to speak at WE Day about opioid abuse with Walgreen’s #ItEndsWithUs campaign. Why is that cause in particular important to you?

Holt: I don’t have a personal connection with opioids, but it is something that recently I’ve been educated on and I feel very passionate about. It’s obviously something very real and very alive, and I think it’s very important to educate my generation and the generation behind me on exactly what opioids are and how they can become misused and how they can become problematic.

The statistics are crazy on this. I think in 2017 almost 70% of drug overdose deaths were from opioids, and if you think about that number, it’s an insane number and an insane amount of drug overdose deaths from misused opioids. I think that’s something to be aware of and also something to be very educated on. So I’m happy to be attending these WE days and educating youth on exactly how we can take action and not let this statistic keep rising but to decrease it.

IBT: Since this isn’t your first WE Day experience, tell me a little about what that experience is like. What are your interactions with the kids there like?

Holt: They fill this room up with so much energy. I’m just inspired by their passion and their want to make this world a better place to live in. I think these kids have a voice, and they’re not afraid to use it and I think that’s what’s so special about this generation. And the things that they do to not just open up a conversation or start a dialogue, which is very important, but also to take action, I think, is what’s most important, and that’s what these kids are doing.

You don’t buy a ticket for WE Day. You earn one by participating in some sort of activity within your community or outside of your community or doing some sort of startup to create a safe space for people to want to be apart of what you’re doing and you’re encouraging massive groups of people to do the same.

IBT: Do you feel pressure as a young actress to be a good role model and encourage kids to make good choices?

Holt: I definitely feel pressure, but I think it’s a good kind of pressure. That pressure only makes me want to do good in my life. Whether that’s the career choices that I make or personal choices that I make, and I think that pressure feels right and it’s not holding me back from anything.

IBT: We have to talk about Marvel, of course. You have seen “Avengers: Endgame.” No spoilers, but how was it?

Holt: Oh man, it left me completely speechless. I think this is by far the best Marvel movie, hands down. A lot of people are just going to be blown away by the storytelling and the action and just the characters all together. I left the theater feeling a million emotions, and I think everyone is going to be feeling the same.

IBT: Are you a big Marvel fan generally? Are you watching other Marvel TV shows and movies?

Holt: Yeah, I grew up a Marvel fan, so it’s actually kind of crazy and full circle and surreal how I’m now working with the company and being part of the family. But I am. I grew up going to see the movies, and now I’m sort of trying to inch my way into the TV shows. I think what’s really cool about this particular universe is that they all sort of coincide. We’ve mentioned on “Cloak and Dagger” some of the other characters from the other shows and vice versa. So I love that there’s a way to intertwine all of these characters and their universes together.

IBT: A lot of fans want a crossover with Hulu’s “Runaways.” Is that something you want to see?

Holt: Absolutely. “Runaways” and “Cloak and Dagger” cross over in the comics, so I feel like it only makes sense for us to do it in the TV realm. But we’ll see. I think it’d be really fun. It also makes sense because we’re all in the same realm of age, and I think it’d be cool to see all the kids together.

IBT: What can fans expect from this week's episode of Cloak and Dagger?

Holt: We’re halfway through the season now, and it’s only going to get bigger and better from here. This next episode definitely dives deeper into the realm of human trafficking, which is also a very real and alive situation that we’re tackling this season. We sort of see how all the characters cope with the situation and what they’re going to do about it and how they’re going to take action and how they’re going to use their powers for good. The rest of the season we really see our characters choose what kind of hero they want to be.

IBT: As you mentioned, the show is tackling human trafficking, and it takes on a lot of really serious issues. Are there any issues you’d like to see the show deal with?

Holt: We’ve definitely tackled a lot since the beginning of Season 1. We focused on everything from police brutality to sexual assault to suicide and drug addiction. This season we’re focusing on human trafficking. So there’s a lot of heavy topics already there that we’ve discussed.

I think it’d be nice to sort of veer off from that for a second to have a little bit of lighter moment only because I feel like these kids already have dealt with so much. It’d be nice to see them happy for a second to be able to really dive into what they can and can’t do with their powers. I feel like it’s already happening with the things that they’re tackling in the city of New Orleans, but I’d like to see them step out of the city and explore more of the world.

“Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” Season 2 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on Freeform. For more information on #ItEndsWithUs, head to the Walgreens website.

(This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)