Background Brian K. Vaughan was hired to write a screenplay for
Marvel Studios in May 2008, based on his comic book
Runaways. Marvel Studios president
Kevin Feige and producer Jodi Hildebrand envisioned the film as a
coming-of-age story in the style of director
John Hughes. In April 2010, Marvel hired
Peter Sollett to direct the film, and a month later
Drew Pearce signed on to write a new script. The film was developed under the working title
Small Faces, referencing the 1960s rock band
Small Faces. Development on the film was put on hold in October 2010, with Vaughan later noting Marvel Studios had decided to focus their efforts on a
Guardians of the Galaxy film (2014) instead. Pearce explained in September 2013 that the
Runaways film had been shelved due to the success of
The Avengers (2012); the earliest the film could be made was for
Phase Three of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe. In October 2014, after announcing Marvel's Phase Three films without
Runaways, Feige said the project was "still an awesome script that exists in our script vault ... In our television and future film discussions, it's always one that we talk about, because we have a solid draft there. [But] we can't make them all."
Development Marvel Television, based at
ABC Studios, was waiting for the right
showrunner before moving forward with a television take on the characters.
Josh Schwartz and
Stephanie Savage, whose company
Fake Empire had an overall deal with ABC, independently brought up the property during a general meeting with the studio, and, by August 2016, the pair had spent a year conversing with Marvel about turning
Runaways into a television series. That month, it was announced that streaming service
Hulu had ordered a pilot episode and scripts for a full season of
Runaways, to be co-produced by Marvel Television,
ABC Signature Studios, and
Fake Empire. Hulu was believed to already have "an eye toward a full-season greenlight". Executive producer
Jeph Loeb felt "it was an easy decision" to have Hulu air the series over the other networks Marvel Television works with, because "[w]e were very excited about the possibility of joining a network that was young and growing in the same way that when we went to
Netflix when it was young and growing on the original side. It really feels like we're in the right place at the right time with the right show." Loeb and Marvel Television were also impressed by the success of Hulu's ''
The Handmaid's Tale, which helped further justify the decision. Schwartz and Savage wrote the pilot, and serve as showrunners on the series, as well as executive producers alongside Loeb and Jim Chory. In May 2017, Runaways'' received a 10-episode series order from Hulu at their annual advertising
upfront presentation. Fake Empire's Lis Rowinski produces the series, and Vaughan serves as an executive consultant. On this, Vaughan noted he "did a little consulting early in the process", but felt the series "found the ideal 'foster parents' in Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage ... [who] lovingly adapted [the comics] into a stylish drama that feels like contemporary Los Angeles". He also praised the cast, crew and writers working on the series, and felt the pilot looked "like an
Adrian Alphona comic", referring to the artist who worked with Vaughan when he created the characters. Loeb said that it had been Schwartz and Savage who had asked that Vaughan be involved, and said that this was something that "a lot of showrunners don't immediately gravitate towards". In discussions with Vaughan, Marvel found that he "really wanted to be involved and make sure that it was done, not just properly, but in a way that it would last 100 episodes". Vaughan also believed
Runaways was "much more at home on television" than if it had been adapted to a feature film as originally developed. He was supportive of the various changes Schwartz and Savage made, such as altering
Molly Hayes to become Molly Hernandez and being a slightly older age as well as introducing a sister for
Nico Minoru who had died, stating the comic material, originally written in 2003, needed to evolve for the series. On January 8, 2018, Hulu renewed the series for a 13-episode second season. On March 24, 2019, Hulu renewed the series for a ten-episode third season. That November, it was announced that the third season would be the series's last.
Writing Schwartz was a fan of the
Runaways comic for some time, and introduced it to Savage, saying, "When you're a teenager, everything feels like life and death, and the stakes in this story—really felt like that." Loeb described the series as
The O.C. of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which Schwartz said meant "treating the problems of teenagers as if they are adults" and having the series "feel true and authentic to the teenage experience, even in this heightened context". Loeb noted that it would deal with modern political issues by saying, "This is a time when figures of authority are in question, and this is a story where teenagers are at that age where they see their parents as fallible and human. Just because someone is in charge, doesn't mean that they're here to do good." The producers did note that the series would explore the parents' perspective as well, with the pilot telling the story from the Runaways' perspective, and the second episode showing the same story from their parents'—the
Pride's—perspective, with the two stories converging midway through the first season. Schwartz likened the tone of
Runaways to that of the comics it was based on, calling it "so distinct", saying much of the tone Vaughn used when writing the comics overlapped with the tones Schwartz and Savage like to work in. The pair were excited by the freedom given to them by Hulu over the usual broadcasters they were used to working with, such as allowing the children to swear in the show, not having set lengths for each episode, and being able to explore the parents' story; Hulu wanted "something that felt broad and where we could push the envelope in places". Schwartz described the series as a coming-of-age story and a family drama, with focus on the characters that can lead to long stretches of the series not featuring super powers, so "if you didn't see the show title, you wouldn't know that you were in a Marvel show for long stretches ... That was our aesthetic starting place, but there are episodes where there's some good [Marvel] stuff." Speaking to the second season, Schwartz felt the series would "accelerate" since the season would be following the kids on the run, saying, "Our focus shifts to these kids and trying to survive in the streets... there's a greater sense of tension and momentum in keeping with where we are in this part of the story." He added that the kids' experience on the run would force them to grow up and make them confront and deal with adult themes quickly. He added that the relationship between Nico and Karolina that began at the end of the first season would be "the emotional core" of the second. As for the parents in the season, Schwartz described them as racing against the clock "to find their kids before something catastrophic potentially could occur". Since the kids know about their powers, they are utilized more in the season. Additionally, the hostel the kids move into is a dilapidated mansion under
Griffith Park. With the third season being the final one of the series, "the story [was] said to come to a natural ending point". When crafting the season, Schwartz and Savage were unsure if the season would be the last for the series, so they "wanted to ensure that the finale was as satisfying as possible" and crafted it as if it was a series finale, while "hav[ing] the potential for another story out there whether it's something that we get to see onscreen or something that lives on in the imagination of the audience." The final moments of the episode see Alex find a note from his future self, telling him to hide "Mancha" and to kill Nico; in the comics,
Victor Mancha was the son of
Ultron who would join the Runaways to become a hero, and Alex betrays his friends. Time travel elements are also featured in the final episode, something teased in the previous seasons, which Savage said was "in the DNA of the comics so it was something that we wanted to honor".
Casting (L-R:
Rhenzy Feliz,
Lyrica Okano,
Gregg Sulkin,
Virginia Gardner and
Ariela Barer) In February 2017, Marvel announced the casting of the Runaways, with
Rhenzy Feliz as
Alex Wilder,
Lyrica Okano as
Nico Minoru,
Virginia Gardner as
Karolina Dean,
Ariela Barer as
Gert Yorkes,
Gregg Sulkin as
Chase Stein, and Allegra Acosta as
Molly Hayes Hernandez. Shortly after, Marvel announced the casting of the
Pride, with
Ryan Sands as
Geoffrey Wilder,
Angel Parker as
Catherine Wilder,
Brittany Ishibashi as
Tina Minoru,
James Yaegashi as
Robert Minoru,
Kevin Weisman as
Dale Yorkes,
Brigid Brannagh as
Stacey Yorkes,
Annie Wersching as
Leslie Ellerh Dean,
Kip Pardue as
Frank Dean,
James Marsters as
Victor Stein, and
Ever Carradine as
Janet Stein. Loeb praised casting director Patrick Rush, explaining that all of the series regulars for
Runaways were the producers' first choice for the role. The majority of the children are portrayed by "fresh faces", which was an intentional choice. By August 2017,
Julian McMahon had been cast in the recurring role of Jonah. He was promoted to series regular for the second season. For the second season, Schwartz noted that "really popular, exciting characters" from the comics would appear. In October 2018, it was announced that Jan Luis Castellanos had joined the cast as
Topher. Clarissa Thibeaux was cast as
Xavin. In June 2019,
Elizabeth Hurley was announced as cast in the role of
Morgan le Fay for the third season.
Filming Filming of the pilot began by February 10, 2017, in Los Angeles, under the
working title Rugrats, and concluded on March 3. Director
Brett Morgen was given free rein by Marvel and Hulu to establish the look of the series, and wanted to create a feel that was "very grounded and authentic". He also looked to differentiate between the hand-held, gritty world of the Runaways and the more stylistic world of the Pride. He felt the latter could be explored more in the series moving forward, but was not available to direct any more episodes of the season. Following completion of the pilot and the show's pick-up to series, there was concern among the cast and crew that the impending writers' strike would prevent the series to move forward. However, the strike did not happen, and filming for the rest of the season began at the end of June, again in Los Angeles. Production on the season had concluded by October 21. Production of the second season began the week of April 23, 2018, again in Los Angeles under the working title
Rugrats. Filming for the season continued until late September 2018. Filming for the third season began on May 13, 2019.
Music In May 2017,
Siddhartha Khosla was hired to compose the music for the series. Khosla said that, due to his history as a songwriter, his scoring process involves "working on these song-stories and weaving them through different episodes". He described the
Runaways score as being "completely synthesized", utilizing analog synthesizers from the 1980s, specifically the
Roland Juno-60 and
Oberheim synths. Khosla compared the "alternative feel" of his score to
Depeche Mode, adding "there is an element of rebellion, so sonically going for something that is a little bit outside the box, non-traditional, I felt was an appropriate approach. I feel like I'm making art on this show."
Alex Patsavas serves as
music supervisor, having done so on all of Schwartz and Savage's previous series. On January 12, 2018, a soundtrack from the first season consisting of 12 licensed tracks plus two by Khosla, was released digitally. Additionally, the original score for the series was released digitally on January 26. All music by Siddhartha Khosla:
Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins Loeb confirmed in July 2017 that the series would be set in the MCU but that the show's characters would not be concerned with the actions of the
Avengers, for example, saying, "Would you be following
Iron Man [on social media] or would you be following someone your own age? The fact that they've found each other and they're going through this mystery together at the moment is what we're concerned about, not what
Captain America is doing." The showrunners considered the series' connection to the MCU to be "liberating" since it allowed them to set the series in a universe where superheroes and fantasy are already established and do not need to be explained to the audience. Schwartz said they "were very capable of telling the story that we wanted to tell independent of any of the other Marvel stories that are out there." Initially, Loeb had said that there were no plans to crossover across networks with the similarly themed
Cloak & Dagger on
Freeform, as Marvel wanted the series to find its footing before further connecting with other elements of the universe, though "You'll see things that comment on each other; we try to touch base wherever we can... things that are happening in L.A. are not exactly going to be affecting what's happening in New Orleans [where
Cloak & Dagger is set]... It's being aware of it and trying to find a way [to connect] that makes sense." On August 1, 2019, it was revealed that season 3 would include a crossover episode with
Cloak & Dagger.
Roxxon Energy, a company featured throughout the MCU, has its logo shown in the series. It also mentions
Wakanda. Speaking to the third season, the showrunners said the series would "deepen [its] connection" to the Marvel Universe. It features the
Dark Dimension, as well as the
Darkhold as it was portrayed on
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