Hidden Gem Uncovered: The Overlooked Brilliance of Runaways
By Published May 5, 2026, 12:32 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2026. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2026. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
While ’s underrated superhero show mixed with , the series never got its flowers during its three-season run despite how ingenious this premise was. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a plethora of TV shows, so it is almost inevitable that viewers missed out on a few hidden gems during their original release. Especially when offer such immersive, original stories with no connections to spawning movie franchises, it can be tough for viewers to keep up with the dozens of shows affiliated with the MCU.
This was markedly more of an issue during the 2010s, when a great many shows on both Netflix and ABC were simultaneously affiliated with the MCU. ABC’s Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Inhumans were all released around the same time as Netflix’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher, not to mention 2018’s Freeform series Cloak and Dagger, FX’s Legion, and Fox’s The Gifted.
Within this slew of interconnected shows from different producers, networks, and creators, it was almost inevitable that 2017’s three-season teen drama would get lost in the mix. Created by The O.C.’s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, Runaways followed a group of teen antiheroes who discovered they all shared one thing in common, namely, the fact that their parents were super villains. Objecting to the plans of their parents, these aptly-named runaways banded together to stop them.
Hulu’s Runaways Was An Underrated Blend of Superhero Series and Teen Drama
While Runaways was a Hulu original series, the show has since been removed from Hulu and is currently streaming on The CW app. Like , Runaways is centered on a group of mismatched teen protagonists who are united only by their common enemy. There was Rhenzy Feliz’s smart leader Alex Wilder, Lyrica Okano’s Wiccan Nico Minoru, Virginia Gardener’s half-alien hybrid Karolina Dean, Gregg Sulkin’s lovable jock Chase Stein, and Ariela Barer’s riot grrrl Gertrude Yorkes.
The group’s clashing personalities only made their chemistry stronger as the show’s story continued, calling to mind other great superhero teams like the Avengers and . Meanwhile, their shared struggle against their super villain parents ensured the group always had a common enemy, even if their conflicted loyalties also introduced plenty of soapy drama into the mix.
Runaways Didn’t Last As Long As The Superhero Show Should Have
With a season 1 rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, Runaways was a big critical success upon its initial release. The show maintained this strong critical performance throughout its three-season run, with season garnering an even better 88% rating from reviewers, while season 3 managed an 82% rating for the show’s final outing. Critics singled out the parents of the main characters as reliable scene-stealers, and many noted the show was arguably better tonally balanced than the source comics.
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However, Runaways never gained the massive mainstream audience that a YA show set in the world of the MCU might have reasonably expected in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Thus, the series wrapped up on a strong note with its third season, but its critical acclaim wasn’t met with widespread popularity in the way that Cobra Kai was around the same time.
Fortunately, viewers who have only found out about Runaways can now view the entire series on the CW app. Although as many links to the live-action movies of the series as some earlier and later MCU shows, this arguably ensures that the show feels more like its own beast and allows the series to stand on its own without relying on cameos and Easter eggs. As such, fans of the X-Men and Cobra Kai would be wise to seek out Runaways.
The Runaways (4) Release Date October 19, 1976 Episode Number 4 Season One Day at a Time - Season 2 Runtime 30 minutes
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