Marvel’s Runaways review, episodes 1-3: Marvel’s best show yet?
By Thomas Bacon
Episode 3: Destiny
The superhero arcs may be building up momentum, but Runaways still excels at character-work. This episode’s particularly interested in some romantic subplots, teasing budding relationships between the kids, and revealing just which Pride members are having an affair.
Episode 3 is essentially about the kids trying to unearth their parents’ secrets. Nico and Alex discover the power of the Staff of One, which seems to work slightly differently in the MCU. It doesn’t require verbal commands, it takes blood in a different way, and we’re yet to see evidence that it can only perform a spell once. It feels a little disappointing, but it does make sense. The element of self-harm behind the Staff of One in the comics would be far too intense for the TV series, and other elements of the traditional design would require too much exposition. Meanwhile, if this version of the Staff of One is just a powerful mystical artifact, then the glimpse of a similar staff in Doctor Strange just means there are more than one of these staffs.
Alex and Nico have serious chemistry, and Episode 3 does its best to demonstrate that. But, of course, they’re not the only ones doing investigations. Taking a tip from Molly, Chase and Gert stumble upon Old Lace, Gert’s dinosaur companion. The CGI is very effective, and that whole scene is thrilling. Meanwhile, there are more romantic sparks between Chase and Gert, particularly when Gert gets her hands on a pair of x-ray specs!
The darkness around the Pride is thickening, with Angel Parker’s Catherine Wilder contemplating using a memory-altering drug on Molly. For now, the Wilders believe Molly was the only one who went into the study, and it leads to a tense pursuit scene in which Molly’s super-strength comes in really handy. Unfortunately, the side-effect of using her power is tiredness, and as a result, Molly winds up captured by Catherine. Only her quick wits can get the kid out of it.
Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history
Again, this is a tremendously strong episode. It all builds up a dramatic cliffhanger, in which we learn what we’d already suspected; the Pride’s last ceremony was flawed, and things have gone horrifically wrong. They need another sacrifice…
The first three episodes of Marvel’s Runaways have introduced us to a phenomenal series, an artistic adaptation of one of the most popular comic books since the year 2000. Excitingly, this show has really done justice to Brian K. Vaughan’s concept, and it’s going to be thrilling to see what happens next.