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6 Reasons to Get Excited for the Runaways

As part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we are getting some new shows on various outlets. First, there’s Cloak and Dagger coming this fall on Freeform. Then, There’s Inhumans on ABC. Next, there’s the Netflix series The Defenders and The Punisher. Last, but not least, on Hulu, there will be The Runaways.

For those who don’t know who they are or their story, here’s the deal with The Runaways. They were created in 2003 by Brian K. Vaughan. The story is centered on a group of teenagers and kids whose parents attended a charity event every year. The teenagers and kids would hang out, except one year, they spy on their parents. They watch their parents sacrifice a young woman in a dark occult ritual. The Pride is a criminal group of mob bosses, time-travelers, dark wizards, mad scientists, alien invaders and telepathic mutants. With the discovery of the evils of their parents, the teenagers run away, banding together to take the Pride down. The team has appeared regularly throughout Earth-616.

The Runaways are an eccentric and eclectic bunch of young teenagers and the struggles they face are too. Here are 6 reasons to get excited for The Runaways.

6. Why Won’t They Give Us Guest Stars?

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I think it may only be me, but I would love it if there were guest stars from the other MCU properties. Yes, the Runaways will be set in LA, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m hoping for some mention of SHIELD, the Avengers, or even Spider-Man, since he’ll be close to the Runaways’ ages. I know its wishful thinking but it may happen. Who knows if the Runaways will wind up in New York and run into the Defenders? Or find themselves in New Orleans and meet Cloak and Dagger? There’s just so many possibilities. Come on, Marvel, give us some guest stars.

5. The Pride

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In terms of bad guys’ teams, we have HYDRA and the Hand. So the Pride should be a nice addition to the array of baddies that the MCU have graced us with over the years. The Pride’s members have the double role of being the parents of our heroes. The ultimate conflict between parents and children anyone? The Pride, like their kids, are an eclectic and eccentric group of people. How do they view their kids? Were they going to keep it secret forever? If they are such smart bad guys, how do their kids get a drop on them? I hope that the Pride will live up to expectations of a really dangerous bad guy group.

4. The Runaways

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The Runaways will bond over their parents being supervillains. They will learn to grow together and become a family. It’s truly a great thing. Family, as we know, isn’t about blood, it’s about bond. As a superhero team, they will have to learn to work together. They are teenagers after all. I suspect that there will be lots of drama. Alex/Nico and Gert/Chase are bound to happen. Too bad that Xavin isn’t going to be in it, yet, so that we can have Karolina/Xavin relationship, but maybe if it gets a Season 2, we’ll get that relationship. Even better, there’s so much diversity in the group as well.

3. Molly

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This girl is so cute and optimistic. A character like her is necessary to see the good in the world when others can’t. She is like the little sister of the group and everyone wants to take care of her. She is also going to be a conundrum for the MCU because Molly is a mutant with super-strength and invulnerability. As Fox owns the right to produce movies and shows with the X-Men and therefore the term mutant (even though there are mutants who aren’t X-Men at all—like Molly and her parents for instance), she won’t be a mutant. She is probably going to be a human mutate, meaning that her parents experimented on her. But her parents were mutants in the comics too, as telepaths, so I don’t know what they are going to do there. I want to see how they develop her as a character.

2. Gert

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Gert is my girl. Gertrude Yorkes is my favorite Runaway and I was so pissed when she died in the comics. She’s a riot grrrl and a social justice warrior for the show, played by Ariela Barer.  Gert’s the sarcastic and cynical. She’s Molly’s polar opposite. Her parents are time-travelers and she has a link with a dinosaur named Old Lace, which is neat as hell, but has no actual powers other than that. She’s best friend with Nico, the Wiccan goth girl of the group. I can’t wait to see her in the show.

1. Connection to the Other MCU Properties

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So, we have another MCU-related show. We, at least, know that Nico’s mother appeared in Doctor Strange as a Master of the Mystic Arts (portrayed by someone different from in show). We don’t know other things—how deep the Pride’s criminal enterprises reach? Since Karolina is an alien, will it have to do with the mess with Thanos and the Infinity Stones? With the Yorkes family, it will introduce time-travel to the MCU, so we don’t know what kind of impact that will have on it. Will SHIELD take notice? Will Tony Stark? There’s a lot of ways that Marvel Studios can incorporate The Runaways in the MCU. It still stands how they are going to manage it.

I hope that The Runaways prove to be a great addition to the MCU as a whole and get a different type of audience that will continue to propel its popularity for future years to come. It will be full of interesting and diverse characters. The show will have something for everyone—aliens, magic, time-travel, dinosaurs and young girls with super-strength.

What do you think about the upcoming MCU television Hulu show? What do you look forward to the most?  Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Twitter!

About the author

Dara Berkey

Superhero nerd. History nerd. Favorite personal hero--Shazam/The Original Captain Marvel. Favorite female hero--Any of the Batgirls. Favorite male hero, other than Shazam--Any of the Robins.