The Heroes for Hire Luke Cage (Carl Lucas) a.k.a. Power Man and Iron Fist (Danny Rand) have been two of Marvel's staple characters since the early 1970s. "Luke Cage: Hero for Hire" was a series inspired by the onslaught of blaxploitation films of that '70s era with the titular character being the first black superhero to be the protagonist and title character of his own book. Iron Fist was a series that took advantage of another popular 70s film trend of the kung fu action picture, namely "Enter the Dragon" starring Bruce Lee.

As a result of low sales, Marvel brought the two street-level heroes together, and out of the ashes of cancellation rose a brand new buddy cop comic... "Power Man and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire."

"Heroes for Hire" was a series focused on Cage and Fist as superhero detectives solving many weird and uncanny cases throughout New York City to help pay the bills. Superheroes running a business may not be the most heroic thing, but at the end of the day, everyone's got to eat.

The concept of two superheroes, one a rough and tumble unbreakable man from Harlem and the other a tranquil kung fu master, having to work together and make a living by solving cases that often involve super villains would instantly turn other comic companies off, but it's the perfect winning Marvel combo.

Luke Cage and Iron Fist were never seen at the forefront of posters as frequently as Spider-Man or Captain America but, like Spidey, the Heroes for Hire represent the everyman of Marvel. Marvel has its fair share of heroes that fight the occasional alien army or evil robot attack, but there are also the street-level heroes that have to stay on the ground. Instead of Thanos or Dr. Doom, Cage and Fist get crime bosses, corrupt cops, drug dealers, and helping the elderly cross the street.

Netflix was never going to be the right home for the Heroes for Hire; they are street-level characters but also have the spectacle and fun of the recent Tom Holland "Spider-Man" films. Cage is an extremely powerful character, being a few leagues higher in strength than Captain America, who requires a certain budget for his powers to be done right. Danny Rand (Iron Fist) is another hero that requires a certain visual flair as he is one of Marvel's leading martial artists hailing from the ancient kingdom of K'un-Lun and gaining his namesake by ripping the heart out of a Chinese dragon.

The "Iron Fist" show played around with Danny's fight with the dragon, but it was nothing more than quick flashes and mentions, which is largely due to budget. Rand was not even shown in his iconic comic costume that fans are familiar with, mainly again down to budget and the grounded nature of the Netflix model. Not a character that is best suited for a television platform where a big budget will likely be more of a concern.

"Luke Cage" and "Iron Fist" did receive attention upon release but went out without much of a fight from fans. Aside from the much more well-received "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones", the shows were not memorable in the eyes of the viewers; there was potential between both shows that had yet to be touched. Some of that potential could never be touched because of the TV constraints.

The comradery and friendship between Mike Colter's Luke and Finn Jone's Danny were being developed for the future of the shows, but the characters were not fully fleshed out as characters themselves and were going in completely different directions than their comic counterparts.

With "Avengers: Endgame" ending the ten-year "Infinity Saga" that has been building since "The Avengers", Marvel Studios finally has a chance to move beyond Earth's Mightiest Heroes and onto more small scale street-level stories with Blade, Moon Knight, Shang Chi, She-Hulk, and many others likely on the way in the new few years. The Heroes for Hire would be a valuable asset to expand that street-level arena on film.

Not everyone with powers wants to go up into space and fight aliens. Some just want to stay in their neighborhood and take care of their families.