10 Best New Marvel Characters Of The 21st Century

Following on with darker characters in recent Marvel memory, Alex Wilder is here representing the entirety of the Runaways. He’s probably the most complex character of that group, so is the most deserving of special focus.

Alex discovers that his parents are part of a murderous cult called the Pride, and leads the children of the other Pride members in an escape. They run away (hence the name) with Alex as their leader, but things start to fracture from there.

Unlike the rest of them, Alex refuses to take a superhero name, and begins to shut himself off from the group. With Alex, the Runaways moves from being a crazy story about a murder cult and actually explores the impact on a human level.

He’s not the most exciting, but he’s by far the most real character the Runaways has to offer.

It’s a shame the TV contorted him into a more likeable form, as the grittier, more selfish Wilder had more about him. It felt very much like a focus group sort of decision, one not really in-keeping with what Wilder (or indeed the Runaways) is all about.