1. It's An Ensemble At Its Finest
The Avengers was arguably the best comic book movie adaptation for a few years time, certainly Marvel's finest hour in terms of balancing multiple protagonists with impressive action, a great story and some hilarious humour. More than that, it was the first time that an ensemble has ever truly worked in terms of a comic book film - more often than not, success lies upon a solitary protagonist's journey - and it leads me to hope that
Runaways could easily replicate this success.
Runaways already have their own band of misfits as an ensemble - a teenage witch, a Valley girl alien, a ten-year-old mutant, the daughter of scientists with a dinosaur bodyguard, a genius and the son of engineers with some Tony Stark level weaponry at his disposal. They all have their own different arcs and stories, but all of them are united in a common betrayal, the ultimate sobering up to the fact that their parents are evil and have been plotting the Apocalypse for decades. As I've previously discussed, the diversity of the characters makes the material so accessible, so welcoming, that the idea of these six people actually being friends, let alone becoming a group of heroes on their own, gives the whole ensemble idea a fresh burst of hope. The Avengers were brought together from neccessity and grew to respect each other. The Runaways are already sort-of friends but they need to learn to work with each other in these new dynamics. None of the characters get short-changed and everyone gets their dues. It's admirable and offers hope that more multi-protagonist superhero films can get made without compromising any character's arc or motivation for the sake of an unnecessary explosion or two. The real reason
Runaways should be the next film that Marvel make is simple - in this new golden age of superheroes, teenagers are looking to Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne and Black Widow as future inspiration when they could really do with some characters to relate to now. And the idea of a group of friends - all of them different and awesome in their special, unique ways - rallying around, proving their strength and loyalty and bravery in the face of impossible odds? That's revolutionary, particularly in a world where being a teenager is looked at with suspicion rather than hopefulness. The Runaways might well be outside the law, but they're very, very good at protecting it. Thoughts and comments below!