Marvel's 'Runaways' Exists In The MCU, Will Expand On The Comic [TCA 2017]

Hulu presented a panel on Marvel's Runaways for the Television Critics Association. The series is based on the comic created by Brian K. Vaughan in which a group of teenagers learn their parents are villains. The series is adapted by The O.C.'s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. On the panel, Schwartz said the second episode of Runaways will deal with the same events as the first, but from the parents' perspective.

"It's important to us there are no true villains in the show," Schwartz said. "The book tells the story from the point of view of the kids. It was important to us we take the time to build out the parent characters. Having Brian K. Vaughan in the room with us [allowed us to say], 'Okay, if you could dig into these stories and these parent characters, what stories do they have to tell?' The first episode is from the kids' point of view. The second episode tells the same story from the parents point of view and then they connect halfway through."

The first run of Runaways culminated in a battle with the parents. The show plans to spend more time dealing with the family trying to reconcile the conflict. The cast added that each character has a different take on their parents. Some kids are ready to reject their parents. Others are trying to believe they have a good reason and are using thir villainous resources for a greater good.

"Brian was very honest," Schwartz said. "They thought they were getting cancelled with every issue so they moved very quickly with every story. How to make it sustainable and live in this conflict with parents and kids longer than the book did was exciting to us and Brian and something we cooked up together."

Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb was also on the panel. While Runaways is a standalone show, he has not ruled out connecting it to the MCU.

"You're just trying to get me in trouble so I say #itsallconnected and have to explain it later," Loeb joked. "It all exists in the same world. How it's connected remains to be seen. I think it much more lives in a world of if you're a teenager, since it's all connected through social media and connected in it's own way, would you be following Iron Man or would you be following somebody more your age? The fact that they have found each other and are going through this mystery together is at the moment what they're concerned about, not what Captain America is having for lunch of Friday."

The Runaways themselves also discover their own super powers after they stumble onto their parents' lair. Loeb suggested the depiction of those powers will be faithful to the comics.

"For those of you that don't know the comic, we try to respect the original material," Loeb said. "That means there are changes that they are going through. Some in a spectacular fashion, some in a more subtle fashion. The secrets their parents hold are the things they get to uncover. As things are happening to them, they have to ask the question which is who else is like me? Did this come from something that my parents did or are my parents hiding something else from me?"

Fans of the comic will also recognize that not all of the characters presented in the show survive the comics. Loeb hinted that some of those characters may have a longer life on the show before replacing them with new Runaways from subsequent comics.

"I think we'd like to get through a first [season]," Loeb said. "We're super excited about the story we're telling now and that's where we're focused."

Marvel's Runaways premieres November 21 on Hulu with 10 episodes. Look for /Film's interview with Schwartz and Savage then.