Hulu’s ‘Runaways’ Executes a Perfect Adaptation of the Beloved Comic Book

Dare I say it?! Runaways has been really good so far. 3 episodes in and I can genuinely say that they have been insanely true to their source material. Back in ’03, writer Brian K. Vaughan teamed with artist Adrian Alphona to create Runaways, a comic about a group of wily kids who discover their parents yearly fundraising event was much less fundraising and much more murder music. In our first three episodes, we get exactly that.. and then some. *Spoilers for episodes 1-3* Runaways shines because it doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s no Defenders or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a large part of that is location, location, location. The comic and show are set in Los Angeles and it uses that to its advantage. With so many Marvel shows set in NYC, Runaways embraces sunny California and the aura surrounding posh, uppity billionaire lifestyles. The houses are humongous, just big enough to hide a secret evil lair or prehistoric dinosaur in the basement. Gangbanging has played a large part in LA’s history and they don’t shy away from that, hell they even embrace it and use it to deepen Mr. Wilder’s backstory. Beach scenes are used because Cali folk are really about that life. Now I’m not from the west coast, but I’ve been a few times and this just feels real.

Spot on Casting. Every. Single. Character. It’s insane when you find a show that effortlessly delivers the look and feel that you got while reading the book. Runaways does this as good as I’ve seen any show do. Alex, Nic…