The Eisner Award-winning comic series finally comes to television.
The Runaways was an amazing hit for Marvel. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, it chronicled the story of 6 kids (Alex Wilder, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, and Gertrude Yorkes) who find out that their parents are actually a secret criminal team known as the Pride. Horrified by what they found out, the kids go on the run to figure out how to stop their parents.
Since the comic came out in 2003, I’ve been dying to see it as a live action property. After many failed attempts Marvel has teamed up with Hulu to give us a TV series based on the comic.
In the TV show, the kids were already friends, but a tragedy has pulled them apart. Alex Wilder is desperate to get his friends back together. Using a little manipulation, Alex manages to get the kids to meet has his house for a type of reunion. During the course of the night, the kids find their parents, as the Pride, sacrifice a girl. The kids can’t believe what they saw and determined to get to bottom it all.
So far the series is very different from the comic series. I’m four episodes in, and I’m still waiting for the Runaways to run away. I think in the show the name of the Runaways deals with sacrifices the Pride gets. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s a case where I don’t understand why a direct adaptation isn’t done. While the Runaways takes place in the Marvel Universe, their interaction with other Marvel comics in the series was few and far between.
The other issue I had was with the character of Molly. In the comics, she is about eleven years old, while the other kids are around seventeen. In the TV series, she’s about fourteen. I really feel it doesn’t work that well. The other thing is in the comics, Molly is a mutant. Due to 20th Century Fox having the rights to mutants, they show hasn’t addressed how she got her powers and they also killed off her parents. While frustrating, it’s not that much of deal breaker.
What a like about the show there is this Breakfast Club feel to the entire show. The choices in music really helps with this. It truly compliments the scenes.
The actors are great in this as well. While there are some changes to the characters, it still feels like comics. The focus just isn’t on the kids, but the parents as well. This dichotomy between the two group of characters really meshes well.
The only thing that sucks is just having to try to ignore what happened in the comics. It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I think you will find this in any adaptation. If I’m feeling this anticipation, then the showrunners must be doing something right.
For now, I’m vested in this show. I really do want to see where it goes, and am enjoying what I’m seeing so far.
Marvel’s The Runaways is exclusively on Hulu, with new episodes every Tuesday.
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