Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ to Air on Freeform

After the success of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, Freeform is bringing another superhero series from the House of Ideas — but it’s one you might have seen before.

Nearly a year after it debuted on Hulu, the Disney-owned network will be airing the premiere of Marvel’s Runaways in a further attempt to corner that teenage superhero market.

Freeform announced that the season premiere of Runaways will air on Thursday, August 2nd, after the first season finale of Cloak & Dagger. However, there’s no word yet on any other episodes being broadcast on the network.

It’s unclear if this is just a test to see if they can fill the superhero-shaped void that will be left once Cloak & Dagger ends, which is proving to be a modest hit for Freeform. Or maybe Marvel Television is trying to squeeze whatever audience they can out of the former Hulu-exclusive series.

Either way, fans of Cloak & Dagger are likely to enjoy what they see in Runaways, as both shows share similar sensibilities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: teen romance, conspiracy, and super powers.

Runaways debuted last November on the streaming platform, receiving fan and critical acclaim. Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series showed a group of friends in Los Angeles as they discover their parents are part of a secret organization that takes part in ritualistic murders of teenagers. They end up foiling their parents’ nefarious plot before going on the run, fulfilling the series’ name.

Runaways has a lot of similarities to the early Cloak & Dagger comic books, and the characters have even had some crossovers over the course of their publishing history at Marvel.

There’s no word yet on why Freeform is airing the pilot for Runaways, though given that it’s coming right after the last episode of Cloak & Dagger, it’s likely that they’re testing waters on the future of their superhero output.

Freeform did order a pilot for another Marvel Television series, Marvel’s New Warriors. That show, which features Squirrel Girl, was since dropped because Freeform did not have space on its broadcast schedule. Ever since the network passed, Marvel Television has said they’ve been shopping the series around and hope to get it on the air somewhere else.

If Freeform decides to air the entire season of Runaways, it might fit more in line with their current publishing strategy. Hulu is currently in production on Season Two of Runaways.

[h/t TVLine]