The Runaways review – Hulu’s Marvel show is a slow burn

Hulu is jumping into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this month with The Runaways. While comparisons to the comic are inevitable, and we’ll get to that, first the show must be able to stand on its own, and with a cast this large, that’s going to be rough.

Set in Los Angeles, removing it far from the Avengers, the only reason you know this connects to the MCU is the “Marvel” logo. Unlike the Netflix series, which always find a way to refer to “the incident,” there is nothing here that makes you immediately think this occupies the same universe as Captain America or even Jessica Jones. While this may be surprising, it is also somewhat freeing. The Runaways, for now, are clearly their own thing and that gives them a lot of freedom to tell their own stories.

And that may also be an issue. Thanks to a rather odd storytelling tool choice in episode two, any momentum the series had is quickly killed off. The issue? Episode two retells the events of episode one, but through the perspective of the parents of the titular runaways. While not a horrible idea, it feels like it would have been better served a bit later in the season after we’ve gotten to know the characters.

And getting to know the characters here is going to be a task. There are six Runaways and 10 parents to deal with. While the kids are clearly the focus, each set of parents also get their moment in the spotlight to deal with the issues that are going on in their lives.

The entirety of The Runaways just feels like too much at times as it jumps between various sub-plots. The key plot is “What are the parents up to,” but then we have to deal with marital issues between Nico’s parents, Gert’s parents have issues with Nico’s parents and ponder leaving The Pride, while Alex’s dad is having a run-in with his old gang buddies on a construction site and on and on and on. The series is called The Runaways, but there has yet to be much running away and just a whole lot of talking in hushed tones.

As just a TV show to dive into, with no knowledge of the comic series, or even the MCU, it just feels like a show that is desperately trying to figure out what it is. Is it a family drama? Is it about teen independence? Or is it, as all the marketing materials would lead you to believe, a show about six teenagers discovering their parents are literally evil? It just seems very unsure of itself.

And then there will be the fans of the comic books…

If you wish to avoid spoilers, please skip the next section.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/reviews/runaways-review/