Marvel’s Runaways Will Be The O.C. Of The MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an ever-expanding thing, adapting comic characters and teams in new stylistic ways. The first MCU original series on Hulu – Runaways – appears to be no exception, judging by recent comments from its execs.

While at Hulu’s presentation for the Television Critics Association, Marvel TV exec Jeph Loeb spoke about the series, and gave a pretty clear comparison to its overall tone.

“[It’s] The O.C. of the Marvel universe.”

This shouldn’t surprise a lot of people, as the popular teen drama was created by Runaways co-showrunner Josh Schwartz. Still, it gives a strong idea of the tone fans can expect for the show – one that was echoed by Schwartz during the TCA presentation.

“We didn’t view it as a superhero show. We viewed it as a coming-of-age drama, family show inside Marvel.”

While Runaways will exist within the larger MCU, its clear that the story was dictated by more than just superpowers. Fans will have to wait and see how they pull that off when Runaways debuts on Hulu later this year.

Runaways was created in 2003 for Marvel’s now defunct Tsunami imprint. Intended to be a miniseries at first, Runaways proved popular enough for Marvel to turn it into a monthly series. Runaways helped earn Brian K. Vaughan an Eisner Award, and it was listed on the 2006 American Library Association’s YALSA Top Ten Books for Young Adults list.

Vaughan departed the series in 2007. A series of other creative teams took over Runaways for a time including Avengers director Joss Whedon. Eventually the series ended with the characters being integrated into the larger Marvel universe. Victor Mancha, Ultron’s son and a late edition to the team, became an Avenger while Nico Minoru became a member of A-Force.

You can read up on the show’s synopsis below:

“Runaways follows a group of six teenagers in the Marvel universe – Nico Minoru, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder, and Gertrude Yorkes – who discover that their parents are secretly members of a supervillain cabal called The Pride. After deciding they’re no longer safe in their own homes, the kids go on the run. In the midst of hiding from their elders, the teens learn about themselves and become a family of their own.”

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“Marvel’s Runaways” is executive produced by series showrunners/writers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (“THE O.C.,” “GOSSIP GIRL”) along with Marvel’s Head of Television, Jeph Loeb (“Marvel’s Luke Cage,” “Marvel’s Iron Fist”) and Jim Chory (“Marvel’s Daredevil,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.”) Fake Empire’s Lis Rowinski will produce as well. Marvel’s Runaways is a co-production with ABC Signature Studios.