If you’re like me, you’re counting down to November 21st when we’ll finally get to meet The Runways, the team of teenage heroes who’ve had a long journey from comic book to screen. With an upcoming premiere date and a brand new comic book announcement from noted YA author Rainbow Rowell, the MCU is about to get a lot bigger and more exciting. Marvel seems to agree, they brought their team of teenage superheroes to the Television Critics Association with fanfare and answer questions about just what the series will entail while screening critical footage of the show. Here’s the top 5 things we learned from the panel.
Comic Book Fans Will Be Pleased
https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/890681392832499712
According to Nerdist, comic creator Brian K Vaughn had a major hand in adapting Runaways for Hulu. Television adaptations are great because especially involving the original creator. The creator can go back and revisit some issues in the source material that they might have wanted to add or fix after writing. Compare it to a software upgrade. But, there aren’t too many changes from the comics. “We tried to respect the original material,” Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb promised. With strong shows like Agents of SHIELD that not only respected the material but made great changes around characters like Daisy Johnson, it sounds like Runaways will be in very good hands under the company.
It’s a Coming of Age Superhero Drama
https://twitter.com/alicialutes/status/890698094353842176
The overwhelming vibe around The Runaways has been “A fun YA drama.” And if so it’s in good hands. Showrunner Jason Schwartz was behind the coming of age drama after all. He’s also a big fan of Runaways source material and helped make his co-runner Stephanie Savage a fan. Loeb made it very clear that Runaways will be about,”themes of family and discovering who you are” and that while it’s a superhero show it’s more teenage drama seen through a superhero prism. “We didn’t view it as a superhero show. We viewed it as a coming-of-age drama, family show inside Marvel,” said Loeb.
Heroes & Villains
The pilot of #Runaways tells a story from the kids' POVs and then episode 2 tells the same story but from the parents' POVs. #TCA17
— Danielle Turchiano (@danielletbd) July 27, 2017
Fans of the comics know that some characters like Karolina Dean and Nico Minoru are unbelievably powerful. Karolina Dean is a shapeshifting alien made of light from another planet and Nico is the host of the Staff of One, an incredibly powerful magical object with ties to the universe of Doctor Strange. Their powers might be scaled back a bit, however if trailer reactions are any indication then they won’t be scaled back in any way that’s detrimental to the character. One of the important parts of Runaways is the characters learning to use their powers and becoming heroes their own right.
Conversely, the roles of the parents will be expanded. According to Schwartz, “There are no true villains on the show”. The first episode of Runaways will be from the perspective of the children while the second episode will show the adults and their roles. It’ll be interesting to see where they take the Pride (the parent’s evil organization) and how they show them as more than cardboard evil characters.
Telepathic Dinosaurs
Just asked #Runaways' @JoshSchwartz76 about Old Lace. All he would say is "you can't do Runaways without Old Lace." #Spoilers
— KSiteTV (@KSiteTV) July 27, 2017
Much like Marvel’s Inhumans, Runaways has an animal side kick, and in this case she’s amazing. Old Lace is the partner of Gertrude Yorkes whose parents are time travelers who made their fortune robbing different time periods (It’s a long story). Old Lace is tuned to Gert’s brainwaves so she obeys her commands. And understandably most of the questions at the TCAs were devoted to just where (and when) we’d see the famous dinosaur. Loeb and his team were coy, but thankfully Ariela Barer who plays Gertrude Yorkes offered fans some hope, “You won’t be disappointed.”
Yorkes’ character is both timely and awesome and we can’t wait to see Barer rock her character’s attitude and hopefully bond with the rest of her team mates. Let’s all give a raptor screech!
It’s All Connected…Ish
"It all lies in the same world. How it’s connected & where it’s connected remains to be seen"- Loeb being all evasive-y re: #Runaways & #MCU
— Matt Fowler (@TheMattFowler) July 27, 2017
The biggest question that everyone always asks when dealing with the MCU is, “where does it take place” in the universe. The biggest complaint of fans is that Marvel might say, “it’s all connected”, but we don’t always see it. Loeb explained where Runaways will fit into the MCU:
“You’re just trying to get me in trouble, so I’ll say hashtag it’s all connected and we have to explain that later on. Look, it all lives in the same world. How it’s connected, and where it’s connected and what it’s connected to remains to be seen.”
That means that the Runaways takes place in the MCU at large, but we won’t see Captain America helping out the kids anytime soon. Their focus is on the mystery and – hopefully soon – their bonds as dear friends and family.
The overwhelming response is a positive one with a group of really thoughtful and eloquent young actors ready to create an awesome diverse project. We can’t wait to see where showrunners Schwartz and Savage take this amazing coming of age drama!
What do you think? Are you starting to get excited? Ready to take on the world with the Runaways? Sound off and share your thoughts in the comments below true believers. Excelsior!