Keke Palmer In Talks To Join Marvel's Runaways

Last we heard, Marvel Studios big screen adaptation of Brian K Vaughan's Runaways was gearing up to begin production in March 2011 in Los Angeles (being produced under the fake production title "Small Faces", a reference to the 1960's-1970's English rock n roll band which had a song titled Runaways). We heard that Randi Hiller Casting and Sarah Finn Casting were searching for the boys and girls to be cast in the big screen movie, but we have yet to hear a single name... until now.

It seems that Keke Palmer has been offered a role in the film.

Thanks to /Film reader Bay R for the tip. The actress told Essence Magazine the following:

I've had a nice little break with the steady TV show but I'm definitely ready to do some more films again. I was just asked to join a new Marvel comic project called, "Runaways."

We have no confirmation from the studio, but there is no reason to believe that Palmer would just make this up. Keke is a 17-year old Illinois-born actress/singer probably best known for the television series True Jackson VP, but she also appeared as Akeelah in Akeelah and the Bee, and was recently in the direct to dvd sequel Bring It On: Fight to the Finish. But which character could Keke play in the comic movie adaptation?

Previously:

A few months back it was reported that British screenwriter Drew Pearce was hired to write the adaptation, with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist helmer Peter Sollett signed to helm the project.

Runaways follows a group of teenagers discover that their parents are an organized group of super villains called The Pride. On the run from their homes, the group bands together and begin a journey of discovery, both of their parents' origins and of their own inherited powers.

Vaughn, best known for the critically acclaimed Y: The Last Man Series (which at one point was in development with DJ Caruso and possibly starring Shia LaBeouf) and as a writer/co-producer on the middle seasons of Lost, created Runaways in 2002 with Adrian Alphona. Vaughan had originally been hired to pen the adaptation in 2008.

Unlike most other books in the Marvel universe, the individual Runaways story arcs are collected in small, manga-sized trade paperbacks. In 2006, the series won the Harvey Award for best continuing/limited series. Geek god Joss Whedon, a vocal fan of the book, took over the series after Vaughan and Alphona left at issue #24 of the title's second volume.

Pearce created the UK superhero comedy television series No Heroics, which was nominated for Best New British TV Comedy of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards. The series focuses on "the love lives and day-to-day trials" of a group of friends who just happen to be off-duty superheroes, hanging out in bar for superheros where superpowers are not allowed. You can watch a trailer for the series below: