Marvel TV is keeping hope alive that Runaways and Cloak & Dagger will crossover in the future. After the Marvel Cinematic Universe exploded with The Avengers‘ $1.5 billion box office haul, the interest in developing other Marvel properties has skyrocketed. Marvel TV moved to bring Phil Coulson back as the lead of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC, but have since established shows on Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform. While Netflix is cancelling Marvel shows left and right, Hulu is the home to Runaways and Freeform houses Cloak & Dagger.
Both of the series star teenage heroes and are targeting the same demographic, but have found themselves on different networks. They may both be under Marvel TV’s eye, each have separate producers, showrunners, and networks to answer to. This is a potential shame as they are the ideal crossover properties, just as the characters have done in the comics. After successful first seasons that brought renewals, the possibility remains for a crossover.
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Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb was asked by ComicBook about the potential for Runaways and Cloak & Dagger to crossover in some form. After complimenting the work showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage did on Runaways to make it work separate from any other properties, he went on to tease that meeting Tandy Bowen aka Dagger and Tyrone Johnsons aka Cloak could be in the Runaways’ future.
It can reference the rest of the world, but it’s true to teenagers – they’re not interested in what Tony Stark is doing this week or what Matt Murdock is doing this week but they might be interested in a couple of kids who live down in New Orleans and what’s going on there.
This is a vague tease by Loeb that may read more like him just doing the right PR move by keeping the door open instead of slamming it shut at first. However, it is a crossover that has been talked about before and could be possible. Disney owns the ABC affiliate channel Freeform and will soon have a majority stake in Hulu once the Fox acquisition goes through. This could make it easier for Marvel TV to work with the different networks and schedules to make such a crossover happen.
The first season of Runaways was largely devoid of any larger MCU references, but Cloak & Dagger made reference to Tony Stark, Danny Rand, and Misty Knight in its first season. Even though Loeb appears to like Runaways‘ lack of MCU Easter eggs, it sounds like this will change in season 2. If they do want to have a crossover in the future, making more efforts to connect Runaways to the larger universe is smart. Cloak and Dagger are a bit more experienced as heroes right now than the Runaways are, but there’s loads of potential for fun if all these teenage heroes get to interact.
Any crossover would likely have to be a one time deal for the season thanks to different release strategies the individual series employ. Runaways season 2 is moving to a complete season drop instead of weekly episodes and returns in December, while Cloak & Dagger season 2 just started shooting and will air new episodes on a weekly basis starting next spring. Unless the crossover has already been filmed, maybe one of the upcoming episodes Cloak & Dagger to film can get a surprise appearance by the Runaways. And if not, then we’ll just continue to hope that the crossover happens down the road.
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Marvel’s Runaways season 2 premieres December 21 on Hulu. Cloak & Dagger season 2 premieres in 2019 on Freeform.
