Move over, Daredevil and Jessica Jones. (But not very far or anything.) Netflix is no longer the only streaming service that will allow audiences to journey into the fantastical world of Marvel Comics. Hulu is joining the fun with the beloved comic series Runaways, which has been granted a full series order.
Runaways centers on a group of teenagers who come together to defeat their parents, who are all part of an evil villain syndicate. So it's basically like everybody's teenage years. And the creative minds bringing it to Hulu know a little something about that age group, as the series is being adapted and scripted by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who co-created the deviously excessive Gossip Girl together. Schwartz also created the young adults of The O.C., as well as the action comedy Chuck, while Savage was behind the short-lived The Astronaut Wives Club. So not a lot of comic-ish stuff there - though Chuck was big and broad in similar ways - but we're still optimistic.
Because Runaways is fantastic, which should be obvious knowing that it was created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona. As previously mentioned, it centers on six teens that aren't very friendly having to join forces after discovering their folks are a bunch of witches and mobsters and other assorted do-badders. It helps that the kids discover that they have inherited their parents' superpowers, although it doesn't always go so well for them, to be expected. Oh, did we talk about how there's a dinosaur there? There's a dinosaur.
Runaways brings all the action and adventure of superhero stories without getting too deep into a lot of the concepts and motifs we're used to seeing. The characters are really well-rounded throughout the initial series, which ran from 2003-2009 (with a 2015 return). Plus, this series puts females at the forefront, and there's also later a gender-switching character that could make an interesting impact Schwartz and Savage decide to go that route.
While still on the upward climb to becoming a regularly name-checked source of outstanding original programming, Hulu definitely upped the ante in the last year with the dramas 11/22/63 and the incredibly intense The Path, which gave a much-needed balance to the comedy-heavy slate Hulu had in the past. If Runaways is a success, that could open the door even wider for even more genre-specific shows. And if Hulu wanted to be the place that finally brought Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man to live-action for the first time, it would have all of our support and then some.
No release date has been set just yet, but you can bet we will get that information to you as soon as it's available. In the meantime, you'll be able to find more Marvel on your TV when Luke Cage and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debut later this year. Check out our fall premiere schedule to see when that will happen.
