Hot on the heels of its streaming rival Netflix, Hulu is moving forward with a Marvel adaptation of its very own, bringing Brian K. Vaughn’s Runaways to TV. Now, Marvel has revealed the starting line-up for the series, drafting six young actors and actresses to play a team of young would-be heroes who suddenly discover their parents are supervillains.
First up: Casual alum Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder, a nerdy video game fan who serves as the unofficial leader of the group. He’s joined by Lyrica Okano, whose credits include a two-episode stint on Showtime’s The Affair. Okana will play Nico Minoru, a Goth loner whose parents are secretly powerful dark wizards.
Next up is Virginia Gardner, who co-starred in last year’s Goat and the horror flick Tell Me How I Die, and who used to show up on The Goldbergs. Gardner will portray Karolina Dean, a Hollywood-raised good girl quietly pushing against her own boundaries. That’s in contrast to outspoken feminist Gert Yorke, who’ll be played by One Day At A Time actress Ariela Barer, and who established herself as a fan-favorite in the comics with her frequent sarcastic asides.
Finally, there’s Gregg Sulkin and Allegra Acosta, playing hunky dimwit Chase Stein and the group’s pintsized powerhouse, Molly Hayes. Sulkin is a Disney channel veteran, coming up through The Wizards Of Waverly Place before making his way into shows like MTV’s Faking It and Pretty Little Liars. And as the youngest member of the cast, Acosta is a relative newcomer, with just a few guest star appearances on shows like Nickleodeon’s 100 Things To Do Before High School to her name.
The most notable thing about the cast is how aged-up everyone is; Runaways made a lot of drama out of the powerlessness their minor status inflicted on its teenage heroes, something that might be undercut by seeing a bunch of twentysomethings on the run. (Even Acosta, who’s 14, is significantly older than the 11-year-old Molly from the books.) It’ll be interesting to see if Marvel can still tap into the “us against whole world of uncaring adults” vibe that made the comic series such a powerful success.