Hulu officially enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe come Nov. 21, when The Runaways premieres. Fans got the first exclusive look at the series at New York Comic Con late Friday evening. And we don’t just mean a trailer. Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb unveiled the first episode, all 51 minutes.
It was easy to fall in love with the main characters -- Nico Minoru, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder and Gertrude Yorkes. The episode starts without much context as to what’s going on. Once best friends, they are now at odds with each other primarily because of the death of their friend. The storyline switches between each character, introducing us to the wide range of personalities -- the jock, the “social justice warrior”, the video game nerd, the “church girl," the goth, and the young innocent.
School is in session and Alex attempts to invite everyone over to his house just like old times, but nobody is interested... until their lives start to fall apart. After a failed spell cast, Nico has an emotional breakdown and shows up at Alex’s door. Chase and Karolina (the “cooler” of the group) attend a rager gone wrong, where Chase’s new friends attempt to take advantage of Korlina. Chase beats the crap out of them and both old friends end up at Alex’s. Gert was going to tutor Chase in Spanish but he stood her up, so after a call from Molly (who comes face to face with her sister's dinosaur) they also head over to Alex’s.
While searching for bourbon in Alex’s dad’s office, the crew finds a secret door leading to a chamber. They find their parents (who call themselves Pride), using all sorts of cult magic. It looks like they are sacrificing someone, and Nico recognizes the poor soul. But of course, one of the teenagers snaps a photo of the spooky scene and their parents realize the secret is out…
That’s where the episode ends. After the screening, Executive Producer Josh Schwartz revealed the second episode will rehash the events of the first, from Pride’s perspective. We may have to wait until the third episode to see how the Runaways earn their name in an attempt to escape their villainous parents.
The first episode was bright, fast-paced, and proved The Runaways prioritizes source material. But what did the fans think? We talk to some in the video below.
“It was my favorite comic. The writing of Brian K Vaughan is what attracted me,” Schwartz said. When he first read the comic, he thought to himself, “I don’t know who this Brian K Vaughan is, but this is my people. You are speaking to me directly.”
It’s rare a comic book creator is directly involved with a TV series or film, but Loeb said the Runways is lucky to have direct input.
“The creator is not necessarily involved, largely because in many cases they are working on comics and they can't’ come out,” Loeb said. “We were incredibly lucky Brian is also somebody who knows quite a bit about writing television.”
But rather than just talk about it, Loeb unveiled a clip from the creator himself. “I couldn’t be happier with the series they all made,” Vaughan said. “It perfectly captures the spirit of the comic.”
In addition to the footage, the Hulu booth at NYCC had an intriguing prop that also appeared in Doctor Strange: The Staff Of One. It was in Tina Minoru’s possession and she used it to cast incarnations and blood magic. That’s not a coincidence. Nico’s last name is Minoru, the daughter of Tina. Nico will likely become holder of the Staff of One (as the actress teased during the panel) after she finds out her mother's secrets.
Are you excited for Marvel’s Runaways? Let us know in the comments and check out the teaser below.
- Smart and weird enough to escape cliches
- Stays true to source material
- So many characters
- It's still a teen drama
