Marvel Television has cast its teen-angsty Marvel’s Runaways series, and actors from Teen Wolf, New Girl and elsewhere will begin their superhero journey on Hulu.
The cast so far shakes out as follows: Rhenzy Feliz (Teen Wolf, Casual) as Alex Wilder; Lyrica Okano (The Affair, Unforgettable) as Nico Minoru; Virginia Gardner (Goat) as Karolina Dean; Ariela Barer (New Girl, One Day at a Time) as Gert Yorkes; Gregg Sulkin (Faking It, Don’t Hang Up, Anti Social) as Chase Stein and Allegra Acosta (100 Things to do Before High School, Just Add Magic) as Molly Hernandez. Additional casting will be announced later.
In keeping with Marvel tradition, details on the series have been hard to come by. Tamara Becher, a writer on Marvel’s Iron Fist, found out how tight-lipped they are back in September after announcing on Twitter that she had joined the staff for Runaways but then mysteriously deleting the tweet soon after.
The show, also executive produced by Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, is based on a Marvel comic series created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. The comic book debuted in July 2003 but was cancelled in September 2004. However, because the trade paperbacks sold so well, Marvel brought the series back in February 2005. The book won an Eisner Award, a Harvey Award and was featured as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s best books for young adults.
In the book, the group of kids finds out that their parents are in a villain organisation called The Pride. Each of them also discovers that they have superhuman powers and abilities, which they use to defeat their parents. The book was popular enough to attract the attention of Joss Whedon, who wrote an arc for the comic series.
In an article that appeared on Marvel.com, Vaughn added: “I’m so excited for fans of the comic to watch this perfect cast of amazing actors, all of whom embody the spirit of their characters more than I ever could have imagined.”
