Marvel’s Runaways

By starrymag | January 16, 2018

By: Darryl Ley

 

 

Marvel’s Runaways is a ten-episode show on Hulu based on the Marvel Comics title Runaways created by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona. The show itself was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz. It aired from 21^st November 2017 to 9^th January 2018 on Hulu. The show has already been renewed for a Season Two by Hulu. The premiere for the series surrounds the idea that after discovering their parents are super-villains in disguise, a group of teenagers – Nico Minoru, Karolina Dean, Molly Hernandez, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder and Gertrude Yorkes band together to expose their parents and to try to stop their evil plans.

 

WHY I WATCHED

Although I would consider myself a big fan of comics, I’ve never read Runaways though I am aware of them within the larger Marvel Universe. When I heard that Hulu would be joining the Marvel TV universe I was eager to see what would set them apart from ABC and Netflix in adapting the material.

 

 

WHAT I THOUGHT

Marvel’s Runaways is not what you might immediately think of when someone says comic-to-TV adaption, there are no capes in sight. Instead, the show is about teenage angst and discovering that your parents are in fact very, very fallible. This show is a great example of doing more with less as we do get action scenes, special effects and the like; however, the show is about the character development of both the kids and their parents and the choices that they all make.

The Runaways consist of Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru, Karolina Dean, Gert Yorkes, Chase Stein and Molly Hernandez. Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz) can be thought of as a leader of the group as without his actions the group would never have found out about their parents’ dark secret. He has secrets of his own, but the one thing you don’t question throughout the show is his willingness to step up when his friends are in danger and to act to ensure their continued safety.

Nico Minoru’s (Lyrica Okano) life has pretty much stopped at the beginning of the show, having been that way since the death of her older sister which resulted in her estrangement from her parents. Meanwhile, Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) is the poster child of her parent’s religious movement and has done everything to foster that image, though she has begun to want to rebel against her regimented life and it looks like she has a secret of her own.

Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer) is a young woman with a cause fighting against the man and railing against the clear inequalities she sees even in her high school. She fights against her attraction to Chase, but those walls come down when he begins to throw off the façade he keeps up at school. Then, there is Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin) who is playing a role in high school – one that is probably just as much about trying to appeal to his father as it is about fitting in and staying at the top of the teenage social pyramid.

Last, but not least, Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta) has been adopted by the Yorkes. Although she feels accepted by her new family, the fact that she is the youngest of the group means that she is often underestimated and sometimes ignored.

All the runaways have secrets that come out during the course of the season, whether it be the terrible secret and guilt that Alex held over the death of his friend Amy Minoru or Nico’s heritage in the form of the staff is a secret kept from her. The fact that Gert’s parents are perhaps the nicest mad scientists ever who made her the ultimate “guard dog” if somewhat unknowingly. It is Chase though that has managed to keep his interest in engineering and science a secret from everyone…including his parents. And Molly didn’t know of the circumstances around her parents’ death, which was also the incident which caused her mysterious super strength.

The actors who portray the Runaways are a diverse and talented group. Their performances are excellent and I think will be seeing them in bigger roles later on. The dread of watching any new show with relative new actors is that there will be this note in the performance that brings you out of the scene, but with this show that is something that never happens here.

Discussions around diversity in TV are really only starting, but have special meaning in comics where most of the oldest and most well-known characters are white as a result of the times in which they were created. Runaways, the comic, is only fifteen years old and was a title on a Marvel Imprint inspired by Japanese manga. Thanks in no small part to the writing, this series shows that like in any normal group of friends these kids fight, they fall in and out of love and stay loyal to each other despite it all.

As for the adults, the Minorus (Brittany Ishibashi and James Yaegashi) were broken by the death of their oldest daughter and the revelation of an affair came as a surprise early in the season but I was a lot more surprised that they managed to reconcile. Meanwhile, the Yorkes (Brigid Brannagh and Kevin Weisman) do spend a lot of the show as the comic relief, but their love for their children and the fact that are one of two families who maintain a solid union throughout the show is to their credit and their early attempts to leave the PRIDE show they should not be underestimated.

The Deans are barely a couple as Frank Dean (Kip Pardue) feels outshined by his wife Leslie (Annie Wersching), the head of Church of Gibborim and current leader of the PRIDE. We don’t see why during the show, but it is clear that she considers him an irritation. A power struggle develops between the two of them when Jonah re-enters their lives.

The Steins (James Marsters and Ever Carradine) make for some of the hardest to watch scenes in the show, Victor is terrifying but still somehow manages to make you feel something for him when he briefly recovers from his illness. But it is Janet who really impresses when she takes firm action in protecting her child. She seems bland and weak in the first half, but throughout the season you see her true strength.

 

Favorite Scenes

I think most viewers will find the final confrontation between the parents and the Runaways at the site of the new school as an amazing bit of television, but there were also more subtle points within the show worth revisiting. Nico seeing her mother in her office after the affair comes to light affects her so much as to waiver on bringing their parents to justice.

 

Comparisons to the Comic

Even without reading the source material it is clear both from episode reviews and statements from the creative teams of both the show and the comics that Marvel’s Runaways is a very different beast. However, in my view at no point does it disrespect the source material. A TV show with a set episode count and schedule allows for a much more coherent story than comics with their missed deadlines and irregular changes to the creative team.

Given that Brian K. Vaughn, who wrote the comic is one of the writers on the show, it could be said that this is a pure vision of the Runaways in a way that the comic couldn’t be due to lack of creative freedom. The show gives a lot more insight into the lives of the PRIDE than the comic did as well as introducing Nico’s sister Amy into the mix and removing one pair of parents from the show if not the backstory. At this point in an age of The Flash, Arrow and Marvel’s Netflix slate, comic fans have a firm understanding that what makes it to screen won’t be a perfect translation of the comics they love but that doesn’t make the show any less compelling.

 

 

CONCLUSION

The true strength of Marvel’s Runaways in my view is the ability of the show to appeal to diverse audiences. Even with the significant changes to the source material there is plenty here for fans of the book and comics in general to find to love here and the teen drama aspect of the show moves along in a believable way even amongst glowing teenagers and hyper intelligent dinosaurs.

Marvel’s Runaways has a group of friends with real conflict and complications while dealing with larger than life issues. This is likely to pull in fans of who often watch various shows on networks like Freeform and The CW. Now that we know there will be a second season, there is an opportunity for Brian K. Vaughn to tell the story he didn’t get a chance to tell with the comic.