Spoilers for Runaways #33 ahead!
Princess Powerful has been a member of the Runaways since the team’s inception almost twenty years ago, but now she may be ditching them for the X-Men! In Runaways #33, by writer Rainbow Rowell, artist Andres Genolet and colorist Dee Cunniffe, Wolverine shows up at the Runaways’ door, ready to take Princess Powerful, the team’s sole mutant member, to the island of Krakoa. Naturally, the Runaways are not having it, but there may be more to the situation than meets the eye. The issue is available now.
First appearing in the early 2000s, the Runaways would go on to become one of Marvel’s best new properties of the decade, drawing critical acclaim. While never a top seller, the book maintained a steady audience and made the jump to television in 2017. The team’s members come from a variety of backgrounds, including magic and time travel; Princess Powerful is a mutant blessed with super strength. So far, she has shown no interest in travelling to the mutant homeland of Krakoa, nor have the X-Men shown any interest in recruiting her, but all of that changes in Runaways #33.
The team is relaxing at their headquarters when suddenly there is a loud crash and Doombot—an android replica of Doctor Doom that has been repurposed to serve as the team’s butler/caretaker, tells a “malformed Canadian” to let him go. Molly and her teammate Nico go to check it out and find Doombot fighting Wolverine, with his fellow X-Man Pixie looking on. Wolverine and Pixie manage to catch Molly and are preparing to transport back to Krakoa when Nico uses a spell to disrupt them. Pixe and Wolverine tell Nico and the other Runaways that Molly actually sent a distress call to Krakoa, asking them to come and get her—in other words, they thought they were there to rescue her!
It is worth noting that Molly is not only the sole mutant on the team, she is also the youngest and therefore more impulsive. Readers never learn in this issue what led Molly to send the distress call in the first place, so it is very likely she could have sent it in a moment of anger; she looks regretful at issue’s end. The Runaways are a team that marches to their own beat, so will Princess Powerful really leave them behind for the X-Men? Has the constant life on the road finally wore her down? Or will Nico and the rest of the Runaways convince her to stay?
Princess Powerful is one of the pillars of Runaways, serving not only as a founding member but also the team’s heart and soul. As the youngest, she is the most innocent, and has maintained that in light of witnessing some truly horrifying events. If she decides that enough is enough and heads to Krakoa for good, it will be a huge loss for the Runaways.
