The latest installment into the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic
Universe is Marvel's Runaways on Hulu, joining the likes of Netflix’s
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage,
Iron Fist, The Defenders and The
Punisher. The new superpowered teen drama centers around Alex, Nico,
Karolina, Gert, Chase and Molly, six misfit teens on the verge of discovering
their special abilities and the mystery behind the organization run by their
parents, known simply as PRIDE. The runaways are portrayed by Rhenzy
Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg
Sulkin, and Allegra Acosta, respectively.
The first episode, titled 'Reunion', shows a troubled
young woman named Destiny on the streets, approached by two men but members of
the Church of Gibborim intervene and take her in. Six months later, we are
introduced to the runaways, who were once the best of friends, but the loss of
one of their own causes them to drift apart. Alex is a nerdy loner, Nico is a
Wiccan who is still coping with the loss of her sister, Karolina tries to be
the perfect daughter of her church-leader mother, Gert a social justice
warrior, Chase a handsome jock but brilliant-minded engineer and Molly is
Gert's adopted sister who discovers she has super strength.
The cast of Marvel's Runaway on Hulu
Alex tries to get the group together again on the two-year
anniversary of Amy’s death but is rejected. Chase plans to get tutored by Gert
but stands her up for a party where he runs into Karolina who passes out after
she removes her Church bracelet and sees her skin start glowing. She is carried
away and almost raped by Chase’s two friends before he intervenes and gets her
out. Back home, Molly explores her newfound super-strength but discovers a
creature locked away in her family’s basement. Gert picks her up and the two
head to Alex’s house where they meet Chase, Karolina and Nico.
After an awkward start to their reunion, they find a secret
passage that leads to an underground temple-like structure where all of their
parents are performing a sort of ritual with Destiny. They see bright lights
emit from a coffin-like box and it closes. The flash on Molly’s phone alerts
the parents and the group flees to act as if all is normal. The parents don’t
suspect anything and believe their children do not know anything about what
happened with Destiny.
We meet the runaways in a way that does not feel forced or
exposition-heavy, taking its time to let the characters develop
organically. There's a clear disconnect and brokenness between the
runaways because of what happened to Amy two years earlier, but they still
care for each other deeply. Despite the characters following some of
the typical tropes we've seen in high school classics like The Breakfast Club, the teen angst
blends really well with the mystery and superhero side of the story.
The second episode, aptly titled ‘Rewind’ takes us back to
the beginning of the first episode but shows the day’s events through the eyes
of the runaways’ parents and unraveling a bit more of the secrecy behind PRIDE
and the purpose of the organization. We get a glimpse into the complex
backstories of the rather mysterious parents and a new perspective on the
otherwise one-sided view of the ceremony we saw in ‘Reunion’. One character we
get an in-depth look at is Victor Stein, Chase’s father, who has run into complications
with the ‘box’ used for the sacrifice, attempting a trial on a rat and opening
the box to it still being there. We learn that Alex’s father Geoffrey is a
former gang member, and when visited by some of his old ‘friends’, he makes a
threat that calls off their extortion for good. Geoffrey is also the most
shaken by the members of PRIDE having to sacrifice another teenager for a cause
still unbeknownst to us, but it involves someone close to Leslie that she has
locked away in her private meditation room.
The third episode, titled “Destiny” was released alongside
the first two, which worked in the series’ favor as the previous episodes had
ended rather anti-climactically, but you were able to see the next chapter
immediately to see what happened next. When Karolina gets a text from Destiny, claiming she’s in London
on a trip with the Church, the runaways branch away to do their own private
investigation to find out what happened to Destiny. After not finding her body
in his father’s lab, Chase goes with Gert to her house to look for the creature
Molly talked about. They discover that somehow, Gert’s parents have a
prehistoric dinosaur, that for some reason obeys her commands.
Meanwhile, Nico finds her mother’s staff and is able to
control it. She also finds Amy’s diary and a snowflake she made, which causes
it to start snowing in the office. Nico calls Alex for help and the two quickly
clean up the mess and come up with an excuse of being there when they’re caught
by Nico’s mother. After Robert and Tina, Nico’s parents, have an awkward date
night, we discover that Robert and Janet, Chase’s mother, are having an affair
due to their unhappy marriages. After Tina catches Nico and Alex together, she
sees a disturbing news report and calls Karolina’s mother Leslie. Destiny’s
body has washed up on the shore of a nearby beach, further proving to Leslie
that her husband was execute the sacrifice successfully.
Though the first handful of episodes may feel a bit slow, the writers thoroughly develop not just our young soon-to-be heroes, but also the secretive and villainous parents. There isn't a single weak link in the cast, with fantastic performances with the young and adult casts, but particular praise goes to Sulkin's charming Chase Stein, Lyrica Okano's riveting and layered Nico Minoru, Allegra Acosta's enthusiastic and super-strengthed Molly, Annie Wersching's vulnerable but strong-willed Leslie Dean, Ryan Sands complex self-made businessman Geoffrey Wilder, and James Marsters' genius Victor Stein.
The first three episodes of Marvel's Runaways are now streaming on Hulu, and new episodes will stream every Tuesday.