While Marvel continues to very publicly drag their heels on picking a director for the omnibus superhero movie The Avengers, they've managed to pick a director for a much lower profile project about a collection of people with powers. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Peter Sollett, most recently responsible for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, will be directing The Runaways, which has nothing to do with the Joan Jett and Cherie Currie band, we promise.
Instead The Runaways, created by Lost writer and Y: The Last Man's Bryan K. Vaughan along with Adrian Alphona, is about a group of kids who discover they're the children of superheroes and band together to set things right. It's a fantastic premise, and though I know nothing about the comic series at all, Vaughan's reputation is enough for me. While Nick and Norah was underseen and regarded as "yet another dopey Michael Cera movie," it's actually hilarious and sweet and dead-on accurate about the behavior of teenagers. Presumably that's what got Sollett the job to begin with, and while he'll need to pull off some action chops as well, I love the idea of a director who will put character first in a superhero movie. Now to find the teenagers who will be the next generation of Marvel superstars.
