Haven’t we all at some point in our lives been certain that our parents were the epitome of evil? Well, the young heroes at the heart of Runaways discovered that the people who raised them were literally supervillains. Based on the incredible comic created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the book launched in 2003. Although it was canceled after a mere eighteen issues, Runaways returned shortly thereafter due to high trade sales. The comic has since continued in several iterations and most members of the team are still alive and well in the Marvel Universe. These characters can currently be seen in the Hulu series of the same name.
As is often the case with adaptations, much was changed during the journey from page to screen. Some were made out of necessity, while others were simply creative decisions. Here are the biggest alterations that Hulu made to these Marvel characters.
Running Away
In the comics, the teens run away and form a team to take on their parents within the first several issues. However, the pacing of the series was much more gradual. Hulu’s version didn’t see the titular heroes leave home until the very end of season 1. The kids have much stronger ties to their parents in the series and are far less willing to completely abandon them.
Much of this is likely due to all the time spent on character development for the parents, which we’ll come back to. While the comic used the kids’ striking out on their own to launch the larger narrative, that event was the climax that the show had spent its entire 1st season building towards.
The Pride
The parents in the comics are straight-up mustache-twirling villains. They are clearly a threat from the beginning and there was no need for Vaughan and Alphona to attempt a more nuanced approach to the characters. However, for the series, showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage chose to spend a lot more time developing who the parents are as people. The grownups of the Hulu series were less evil masterminds and more saps who got duped by a clever and extremely powerful alien – still murderers though.
This makes sense considering Savage and Schwartz also took a keen interest in the parents of the other teen dramas that they worked on: The O.C. and Gossip Girl. Changes were also made to the characters’ powers. The parents in the comics were wizards, mutants, and aliens, along with a few mere mortals, while the series kept the grownups very much human.
The Gibborim
The Church of Gibborim was created solely for the TV series. In the comics, they are an ancient race of extremely powerful giants. They were the ones to gather the Pride, requiring a yearly sacrifice in exchange for making these families incredibly wealthy and powerful. The idea was to return the world to the paradise that it once was.
Rather than aliens living as actors, as the Deans are in the comics, they instead run a church. Jonah is the only fantastical element here, with the Pride making sacrifices to keep him alive. The series also chose for him to be Karolina’s biological father, whereas in the book, the Deans are her real parents.
Molly’s mutant gene
This is one change that was certainly made out of necessity. The Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon have access to mutants and everything that comes with them. However, at the time that this show was created, the Disney/Fox deal wasn’t even a consideration. In the comics, Molly and her parents are mutants, which is a much easier way of explaining where their powers come from.
As of yet, the show hasn’t been too explicit about how Molly acquired her super-strength. We know that it’s related to rocks that her now-deceased parents had found at Jonah’s dig site, which Molly came into contact with during the lab explosion. Her power set is very similar, though Molly does need more time to recuperate after using these abilities in the comics. She is also a few years younger than her TV counterpart.
Topher’s vampirism
To be fair, making Topher a vampire, as he was in the book, would’ve felt out of place on the Hulu series. He was also less of a villain on the show, though he still certainly posed a threat. Still, he was at least attempting to be a good guy, whereas the Marvel Comics version of Topher was just trying to snack on members of the team and perhaps have them join him in eternal life.
The series also chose to connect the character to Molly, giving them similar powers. However, Molly’s had become a natural occurrence and though Topher’s abilities were derived from the same rocks, he had to keep using them like a drug in order to maintain his level of strength. Neither Topher was around for very long.
Nico’s staff
In the comics, Nico needs to cut herself, drawing blood in order to pull the powerful Staff of One from her chest. This is a plot point that Savage and Schwartz both felt was better left changed or the TV show. Nico actress, Lyrica Okano, has explained that the show didn’t want to promote self-harm in any way, considering its young demographic.
So, in Hulu’s Runaways, Nico’s staff is still incredibly powerful, but it’s more of an accessory and less an actual part of her. While the way she accessed the weapon worked very well in the context of the book, it was a sensible decision to change that detail for the television adaptation.
Amy’s existence
Season 1 spends a fair amount of time unraveling the mysterious death of Nico’s sister, Amy. Much of the person that Nico has become appears to be due to losing her sibling. It was also the event that drove a major wedge in the group, to begin with. Eventually, it’s revealed that, as Nico suspected all along, Amy’s death was not self-caused.
Though this was an important subplot in the Hulu adaptation, it was not part of the original story at all. The character of Amy, as well as her tragic end and ties to The Pride, were invented solely for the Hulu series.
Nico’s preference
Nico and Karolina shippers everywhere were able to rejoice when the former shared the latter’s feelings in Hulu’s Runaways. In the comics, Karolina had a huge crush on Nico, but unfortunately for her, Nico just wasn’t into girls. Don’t worry about Karolina though, because she and Xavin were quite happy together.
Although her betrothed, Xavin, was introduced towards the end of season 2, there was an extra wrinkle, because Karolina and Nico had already become a couple. We’ll all have to wait until next year to see who our favorite alien winds up with. Either way, many fans were happy to see Deanoru become a reality.
Alex’s betrayal
While it’s certainly not too late for Runaways to make this plot point a reality, it seems like the show has already diverged too much from the comics for such a narrative decision to make sense. In the comics, Alex was revealed to be a mole who shared his parents’ dream of acquiring unlimited power. He didn’t survive too long beyond this revelation.
This was one of the comic’s most shocking twists. Though readers didn’t see it coming, it definitely made sense within the context of the story. It doesn’t appear that Rhenzy Feliz’s version of the character would betray the team, but anything could happen in season 3.
Chase’s personality
Speaking of betraying the team, the Hulu adaptation had Chase be the one to twist the knife, though for very different reasons than Alex. His comic counterpart would never have done such a thing regardless. That’s not the only major difference between these two iterations of the character though.
Comic Chase certainly had his shining moments and was undeniably beloved by fans. However, he also wasn’t terribly bright. Chase had his strong points and a personality that made Gert – and readers – fall madly in love with him. TV Chase is still a jock, but definitely a smarter one, capable not only of wielding the Fistigons, but of helping to create them as well. That being said, the OG Chase wins in the undying loyalty department.
