Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ is fun and not self-important TV.
Very little is what it first appears to be in “Marvel’s Runaways.” The 10-episode show whose first three chapters premiere on Hulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21, seems at first to be just a couple of swear words above Disney Channel teen fare.
Six Los Angeles teenagers are almost like the human characters in “Scooby-Doo,” except they all come from wealthy families. They used to be close when they were younger, but not anymore, not since the death of Amy, the sister of Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano).
They are all more or less types you wouldn’t expect to be close at this age anyway. Nico is a Goth-tinged loner, Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz) is a nerdy four-eyes, Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin) is a most-likely-to lacrosse jock, Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer) is a political activist with purple hair, Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta) was adopted by Gert’s parents after her own parents died, and Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) is the serene and beautiful daughter of Leslie Dean (Annie Wersching), a former actress who leads a cult-like religion called Gibborim.
If you know your Marvel Universe, you are somewhat but not fully ahead of the game as to how intentionally misleading the first episode of “Runaways” is. The six former friends reunite because they don’t trust their parents. Well, what teenager does, right? Except these kids may have good reason not to trust their parents. We’re right there with them, with regard to Leslie and her creepy cult. And whom does she keep hidden in a space in her all-white fortress?
Nico’s mom, Tina (Brittany Ishibashi), a lawyer, is tyrannical and cold-blooded. Chase’s dad, Victor ( James Marsters), never misses an opportunity to tell his son how inadequate he is, and treats his wife, Janet (Ever Carradine), like a servant. Alex’s folks (Ryan Sands and Angel Parker) are unnecessarily controlling and distrustful of their son.
Bit by bit, the show’s creators, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, pull various planks of predictability out of their creation. We learn more about what the parents are up to, but not all at once. And there are other surprises as well, including what Gert’s latter-day-hippie folks (Kevin Weisman and Brigid Brannagh) are keeping as a pet, and some things about the teenage sleuths even they don’t know about themselves yet.
“Runaways” maintains an appealing balance of accessible familiarity with a savvy sense of surprise, augmented by a strong cast. Most of all, it’s fun without being weighed down by the sense of self-importance that sometimes surrounds Marvel shows.