In the age of online streaming, TV shows made by companies like Netflix and Hulu are gaining more popularity and respect. The online platform allows producers more creative freedom and allows viewers to binge-watch shows at their discretion.
A new show that’s been gaining a lot of attention is Marvel’s “Runaways”, which is now streaming on Hulu. “Runaways” is based off of the comic book with the same name by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. The show is about 6 teenagers from Los Angeles who come together to fight against their parents and the organization they’re in, the Pride. The “Runaways” comic book, created in 2003, paved the way for diversity in superhero comic books and now TV shows. Here are a few reasons why you should be watching Marvel’s “Runaways.”
The show celebrates diversity
The show markets itself as celebrating diversity, just like the comics did. The main characters all come from different cultural backgrounds, but all share a common goal. One of the Runaways, Alex Wilder, is an African-American teenager whose ex-con father and lawyer mother joined a community outreach organization called the Pride. The Pride is a secret crime organization made up of the Runaways’ parents, who joined to gain wealth and power in Los Angeles. They hide behind doing community service and secretly as part of the Church of Gibborim, where one of the Runaways, Karolina Dean, belongs to. Karolina’s mother is one of the leaders of the borderline cult and religious organization, The Church of Gibborim.
The teens, who used to be childhood friends but have since grown apart, come together once they find out their parents are committing horrible crimes and form the Runaways. Another teen, Nico Minoru, does pagan Witchcraft and is one of the only Japanese-American superheroes. Gert Yorkes is a social activist, Riot grrrl and the adopted sister of Molly Hernandez. Molly is another member of the Runaways, who discovers she has super powers early on in the series. Molly’s parents were also members of the pride, but after they died, Gert’s parents adopted her as part of Molly’s parents’ wishes. The final member of Runaways is Chase Stein, who’s a lacrosse player that’s mistaken for being a “dumb jock”, but actually has a keen interest in engineering. The show portrays his intelligence by showing he has the ability to be just as smart as his engineer father, Victor Stein.
The teens all come from diverse backgrounds, but their unlikely friendship makes their differing views and beliefs refreshing to see in this day and age. The show sets a great example for today’s teens by showing that people with different backgrounds and differing views can still be great friends.
The show has a great cast
The show also has an amazing cast, who portray the characters from the comic books so well. I mean come on, Gregg Sulkin playing Chase Stein?! Do I need to say more? Good looks aside, the casting crew did a fantastic job selecting the best actors to bring these superheroes to life. They talk about real life situations like anxiety, crime and civil rights (mostly in the form of short comments made by social activist, Gert Yorkes), just to name a few.
The show is a great mix of the teen drama with the Marvel superhero universe. Of course, there are situations with love triangles in the group, because how can it be a teen drama without your common love triangle storyline? It isn’t your average love triangle though. “Runaways” pairs up some unlikely friends into lovers, and it’s very refreshing to see these characters together in a normalized setting. I won’t name the characters who get together for the sake of spoiling the storyline, but I’ll just say that the couples work well together and don’t distract from the main storyline and goal of the group. While there is an element of love and drama in the show, it definitely balances teen drama and superhero show very well.
The first season just ended, so now is the perfect time to binge-watch the first season! You can watch the trailer to learn more about “Runaways” below.