Review Round-Up: Marvel's 'Runaways'

Collider

"I'm a big fan of Brian K. Vaughan's original run on the Marvel comics Runaways, and to the credit of showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, they attempt to forge their own direction from the premise of six teenagers learning their parents are supervillains. Unfortunately, their new direction is mostly listless, choosing conspiracy boilerplate over narrative momentum at every turn. In the first four episodes (the only ones released for review of the ten-episode first season), the teenagers don't even runaway. Instead, they stay put, investigate, and the show tries to follow six teenagers and all of their parents. It makes for a show that lacks focus and has none of the energy that made the comics such an enjoyable read." - Collider

Forbes

"Runaways is YA television. Fantastical is to be expected, but the weirdness of this show is next level for Marvel. And it's pretty fun.

Once audiences get passed the very slow paced premiere episode, a mystery begins to unfold that takes some wild turns that are going to entice even the most cynical of Marvel's television viewers.

The series' greatest strength comes from its soap-opera relationships. All these kids are phenomenal. If you're coming to Runaways hoping for The O.C. with superpowers, you will be pleased.

Overall, Marvel has a solid start to its Hulu corner of the MCU in Runaways. It's wonky at moments, but those moments of wonkiness are overshadowed by a sense of risk-taking not seen since last year's Luke Cage." - Forbes

THR

"With The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu hit a home run. Through a unique combination of timing and excellence, the Margaret Atwood adaptation won the drama series Emmy, became a pop culture touchstone and succeeded in every visible metric, elevating a Hulu Originals brand that had been mostly associated with dramas that probably didn't rise to expectations and [well-regarded] niche comedies.

Despite a creative team of sluggers — Marvel Studios plus creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage — Hulu's new drama Runaways (or Marvel's Runaways, if you want to be cumbersome) is not a home run, but through the four episodes sent to critics, it still has potential to be the kind of solid extra base hit a growing programming portfolio needs. If anything, I think Schwartz's and Savage's ambitions for Runaways may limit its ability to be an immediate smash hit, but could pay long-term dividends across the 10-episode first season, which launches Nov. 21." - THR

Nerdist

"Over the first four episodes, the show gets progressively stronger and becomes even more engaging. Once the teens are fully onboard with their mission to understand just what their parents were up to in that basement wearing those scary looking cloaks the show really hits its stride. It works to set up relationships that fans know and love from the comics, with Gert and Chase getting to spend some quality time together whilst accidentally discovering Old Lace. Nico and Karolina's budding relationship gets off to a sweet start, whilst Molly's (not) mutant powers are truly a sight to behold as Allegra Acosta steals the show anytime she begins to get sad or mad. James Marsters' Victor Stein looks to be the shows big bad, and we're seriously interested to see just how far the writers are willing to stray from the source material to make that happen." - Nerdist

EW

"The casually diverse makeup of that ensemble (and the shot-on-location pleasures of the show's scenery) suggests a richly panoramic vision of Los Angeles culture. You can feel that in the great opening title sequence, set to Siddhartha Khosla's soundtrack. The titles linger over gorgeous homes, tall gates, huge yards. There's a deep vein of dark comedy here, a satire of point-one-percenters that deepens the more recognizable superpowered-teen melodrama. After all, to get a house like that? You'd have to be a supervillain." - EW

CBR