November is finally here, and the month will be a busy one for superhero fans. Thor: Ragnarok will start preview screenings tonight, and Justice League will follow later this month. As for TV, Agents of SHIELD will return for its sixth season in a couple weeks, but it is not the only show coming out. Over on Hulu, Marvel’s Runaways is about to premiere, and reviews are out on the series.
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As you can see below, they are fairly flattering.
The review embargo for Runaways is up, and sites are now sharing their thoughts about the show. Rotten Tomatoes has accumulated ten reviews for the series, and Runaways has come out with a 100% rating with an average rating of 8.47. Critics have only had good things to say about the series, and ComicBook is no exception.
Our sites’s Joseph Schmidt wrote up his review for the series, and it praises Runaways as one of Marvel TV’s best shows yet.
“The House of Ideas’ Hulu debut is also one of their most faithful adaptations of a comic book put to screen. Even though there are many deviations — with some bigger than others — the DNA created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona in their first 18 issues lies at the core of every character and plot point,” Schmidt writes.
“Where Runaways shines is its ability to breathe, letting small moments boil over and explore into climactic crescendos, further pushing the teens and their parents into uncomfortable situations. Only so much can be accomplished in 20-plus comic book pages, and the team makes use of their runtime to expand in new directions.”
If you don’t want to take Schmidt’s word on the show, then you can check out some of the Internet’s other reviews. The slides below contain a sample of recent reviews that can help you decide if Runaways is for you or not:
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
