"Marvel’s Runaways" Flips Societal and Gender Expectations

To quickly recap season one the Runaways a group of six friends discovered that their parents were under the oversight of a mysterious man known as Jonah Julian McMahon running a deadly criminal organization under the veil of their philanthropic charity known as Prideamp160 Determined to exposeamp160their crimes and their phony charity organization the kidsamp160united to take them downamp160 By the end of the first season the villainousamp160parents framedamp160themamp160for murder and the six were forced into hiding finally earning theamp160name quotRunawaysquotamp160amp160Season two picks up right where season one left off with the Runaways on the lam from law enforcement and looking to regroup and figure out their next move to take down PrideThe Runaways consist of Chase Stein Gregg Sulkin an engineering expert and tinkerer Alex Wilder Rhenzy Feliz a techsavvy nerd who handles the groupamp8217s defenses Gert Yorkes Ariela Barer who has a telepathic connection to their parents39 genetically engineered dinosaur Old Lace Molly Hernandez Allegra Acosta the youngest of the group and Gertamp8217s younger adopted sister who can channel tremendous strength Nico Minoru Lyrica Ocano a Wiccan who wields a staff that can summon dark magic and Karolina Dean Virginia Gardner a halfhuman halfalien with the power of flight and the ability to project beams of lightDue to the large cast with six Runaways and ten members of Pride it does take some time for the plot to move along as each character is given his or her moment in the spotlight but the showrunners and writers have been careful to leave no weak link among their burgeoing gallery of heroes and villainsamp160 The series meticulously delves into the backstories of not just the Runaways but of their parents as well layering each character and fleshing out their relationships with each other and their families as well as revealing their inner demonsOne of the many interwoven stories here explores the dynamic between parent and child particularly between father and son amp160Victor Stein James Marstersamp160and his son Chase have never had a pleasant relationship but when Victor tells Chase about his brain cancer the two decide to mend things for the sake of Victoramp8217s wellbeing during theamp160limited time he has leftamp160amp160Chaseamp8217s change of heart toward his father and Pride causes rifts in the group particularly with Alex who used to idolize his mother and father played by Angel Parker and Ryan Sands respectivelyamp160 But when he and his teammates uncovered their parents39 deadly secret he was shattered and now wants nothing more than to see them pay for their crimesMeanwhile Victoramp8217s emotionally abusive relationship with his wife Janet led to her affair with Nicoamp8217s father Robert James Yaegashiamp160 Although she was reduced to the role the picturesque PTA mom and housewife due to Victoramp8217s career she is a brilliant scientist who will protect her son by any means necessary even from his own fatherOnamp160The Marvel After Show the official companion podcast featuring interviews from the cast and creative team ofamp160Runaways Marsters spoke about his character39s anger and hostility and how it has affected Victoramp8217s relationships with Chase and Janetamp160amp160amp160amp8220Victor did not have a perfect childhoodquot he saidamp160 quotHeamp8217s had a lot of that anger his whole lifeamp160 I think that anger has served him well in his life as an engineer and industrialist and heamp8217s fully convinced that it works and that itamp8217s the best thing to doamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220His brain cancer is the last strawamp160 He39samp160been trying to juggle all of thisamp160 He39samp160been trying to make this horrible situation work and now heamp160canamp8217t even think straight and he39s just drowningamp160 He doesn39t know what to do anymoreamp8221amp160amp160quotChase loves his dad very much and loves his family but at the same timeamp160heamp8217s not an idiot and knows that his parents are not who he once thought they werequot said Sulkin on the podcastamp160 quotTheyamp8217re not superheroes or super parentsamp160if anything theyamp8217re supervillainsamp160 The main crack in his armor is when his dad reveals his health issues to him because you can dislike someone and have all this pent up anger but if someone tells you theyamp8217re not going to be around much longer you soon change your tuneamp8221While many of the actors playing the Runaways give fantastic performances those playing the members of Pride tend to be the scenestealersamp160 Twoamp160particular standouts are James Yaegashi and Brittany Ishibashi asamp160Nico39s parents Robert and Tina Minoru respectivelyamp160 Yaegashi portrays Robert as a tranquil tender and loving father and husband with a sense of vulnerability that many can find relatable especially when men in media are not often portrayed as emotional or sensitiveamp160 He shows several acts of bravery and strength in character throughout the series and isamp160willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves without hesitationamp160 Ishibashi plays the stoic and intimidating staffwielding Tina to great effectamp160 She is by far the most powerfulamp160memberamp160of Pride and probably the most feared among the group other than JonahDuring the first season Nico witnesses her mother quotcrackquotamp160for the first timeamp160in a heartwrenching moment after Robert and Janetamp8217s affair is exposedamp160 Ishibashi was impressive showing the sudden shift in her otherwise strongwilled and fearless characteramp160amp160Onamp160The Marvel After Showamp160Ishibashi spoke about her characteramp8217s relationship with Robert and Nico and the obstacles the Minoru family has to overcomeamp160 amp8220As with all the parents weamp8217ve been doing all of this for our familiesamp160and to save our families and just to surviveamp160 I donamp8217t think we realized how far in over our heads we wereamp160 Everything Tina has done has been to save her familyamp160 She39s almost lost everybodyamp160 Sheamp8217s trying to get back to the essence of what sheamp8217s doing it all for and that family is the most important thingamp160 It was fun to work with James to talk about what brought Robert and Tina together in the first place and building this business together and climbing this mountain togetheramp160 We get some really intimate wonderful quiet scenes in season two after Robert goes on his mission to do what is noble and try to stand up and protect his family in hisamp160 own wayamp8221Yaegashi along with Angel Parker and Kevin Weisman who plays Gert and Mollyamp8217s father Dale bring an especiallyamp160interesting perspective to their characters as real parentsamp160 When asked about the climactic fight between Robert and Tina against Nico Yaegashi saidamp160amp8220You canamp8217t forget the fact that Robert has actually been trying to bring Nico back and give her the option at every turn sheamp8217s rejected thatamp160 Itamp8217s a parental thing tooamp160 How much freedom do you give your child who maybe isnamp8217t 100 ready to take on everything inamp160the world as an adultamp160 Iamp8217m going through that with my own 15yearoldamp160 Itamp8217s a delicate dance because you want them to be independentamp160 You want them to make their own decisionsamp160 But there are certain decisions that if they make the wrong one it will expose them to more danger and be more detrimental than they can handleamp160 At a certain point a parent has to put their foot downamp8221Season two ofamp160Runawaysamp160raisesamp160the stakes in action scenes visual effects and overall production value finding its footing in a fantastic balance of teen drama and superhero blockbusteramp160 Though it takes place in the same world as otherworldly heroes like hammerwielding gods and super soldiers the tone of the show is still very real and groundedamp160 Something I have to commend Marvelamp8217s Runaways onamp160is how the writers have broken the gender norms typically portrayed in film and televisionamp160 The men are smart sensitive and unafraid to be vulnerableamp160 The women are strong driven and simply put badassesThe budding romance between Chase who was at one point the alpha jock in school and Gert a determined feminist and social justice warrior creates an interesting dynamic amp160He shows a more sensitive side is willing to listen and not mansplain everything amp160Instead he offers a helping hand or comforting words when Gert is ailing or having a panic attack due to her anxiety amp160Whatamp8217s impressive about Gertamp8217s character is that amidst her stress her relationship problems and her struggles with Molly she still gets the job doneamp160 She works with the group as a total team player showing that people suffering from a mental illness are not helpless and can still be strongRunaways is a massive step forward for underrepresented communities with actors of Asian Latinx and AfricanAmerican descent in leading roles and LGBTQ individuals as primary charactersamp160 Not only is it important for young audiences to see themselves represented onscreen to have a superhero that looks like them talks like them and acts like them is truly impactfulamp160Seasons one and two ofamp160Marvelamp8217s Runaways are now available to stream on HuluClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

"Marvel’s Runaways" Flips Societal and Gender Expectations

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Juan Ayala

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

"Marvel’s Runaways" Flips Societal and Gender Expectations

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Juan Ayala

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

Cookies