RUNAWAYS
SEASON 1

A SHELVED FILM AND A STREAMING ORDER

HOW RUNAWAYS REACHED HULU

Marvel Studios had developed a Runaways film from 2008 and shelved it around 2013. Hulu ordered a pilot in August 2016 and a ten-episode series in May 2017, with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage as creators and showrunners. Pilot filming began in Los Angeles in February 2017.

Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb said in a roundtable held on 26 September 2017 that the team internally called it “the O.C. of the Marvel Universe,” because of how Brian K. Vaughan built the characters and their relationships with the adults. Loeb said the property was consistently near the top of fans’ wish lists for Marvel television, and that Vaughan’s involvement was key. Savage, who worked on The O.C. with Schwartz, said she was not a natural comic book reader but loved Vaughan’s writing, humor and strong, diverse female characters.

THE ADULTS GET AN EQUAL SHARE

WHY THE PARENTS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS THE KIDS

The writers made the adults an equal focus. The first episode follows the teenagers and the second retells events from the parents’ point of view. Schwartz said he first identified with the kids but now sees the parents as “a little misunderstood,” and called the show first a “coming-of-age story and a family drama,” with the superhero elements secondary. Hulu’s freedom on language and episode length was part of the appeal.

Schwartz said in January 2018 that the plan for the first season was always for the children to run away, but that they first wanted to explore teenagers and parents sharing a home:

“we knew they were going to run.”

Josh Schwartz, 9 January 2018

SIX TEENAGERS AND THEIR PARENTS

WHO PLAYS THE RUNAWAYS AND THE PRIDE

The teenagers are played by Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin and Allegra Acosta. Their parents, the members of Pride, are played by Angel Parker, Ryan Sands, Annie Wersching, Kevin Weisman, Kip Pardue, Ever Carradine, James Marsters, Brigid Brannagh, Brittany Ishibashi and James Yaegashi.

THREE EPISODES, THEN WEEKLY

HOW HULU RELEASED THE FIRST SEASON

Hulu released the first three episodes together on 21 November 2017 and then added one new episode each Tuesday at 12am Pacific, ending with the finale on 9 January 2018. ScreenRant argued on 9 January 2018 that “the strange release schedule means the show has had a tough time generating buzz for each new episode.” Hulu does not publish viewing figures.

THE REWATCH

AN 85% CRITICS SCORE AND A SECOND SEASON OF THIRTEEN

Rotten Tomatoes lists an 85% critics’ score from 82 reviews and a 76% audience score, and its consensus calls the show “earnest, fun, and more balanced than its source material.” Metacritic gives the season 68 from 22 critics. Hulu renewed it on 8 January 2018 for 13 episodes, with Schwartz and Savage saying, “We’re so privileged that Marvel and Brian K. Vaughan trusted us with Runaways.” The series ended after three seasons in December 2019.

In the Marvel Marathon it is catalogued as Marvel Television and sits in the Marvel TV shows in order guide between The Punisher Season 1 and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5. It is not in the MCU timeline guide or the MCU release-order and series guides.