The upcoming second season of Runaways will see more elements of the original comics crossover into the television adaptation. Showrunner and Executive Producer Josh Schwartz recently spoke about the upcoming season of the teen superhero drama during a Television Critics Association set visit and mentioned new characters being introduced into the ever-evolving series.
Schwartz spoke about the plot of the upcoming season, zeroing in on the real-world tensions the Runaways will face.
“It’s going to accelerate,” said Schwartz in an interview with Deadline. “We are now running with our kids. Our focus shifts to these kids and trying to survive in the streets… there’s a greater sense of tension and momentum in keeping with where we are in this part of the story.”
Runaways Season 2 will focus on numerous real-world issues, like the feeling that the world youths are inheriting is systemically broken.
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“In the real world, young people are dealing with adult themes,” said Schwartz. “The world the adults are leaving young people, there’s a responsibility on young people to fix this world. It feels so broken in so many ways. That is also a theme for our characters and for the show.”
Schwartz expanded on the chances of seeing fan-favorite characters pulled from the comics, revealing that “there are some characters who appear in the book who are appearing in Season 2.” The showrunner teased that these characters are both “really popular” and “exciting.”
One potential addition would be Victor Mancha, a kind-hearted superhero fan who is revealed to be a robotic creation of Ultron. It’s unlikely Ultron himself will show up in the series after being dispatched in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but recurring baddie Victor Stein (James Marsters) could fill that role in some capacity.
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Some fans are also holding out hope for a version of Xavin to show up. Xavin is a Super-Skrull in training first introduced in Runaways Vol 2 #7. Xavin believes he is destined to marry Karolina as a result of a treaty penned by her supervillain parents. The Skrull has a surprising amount of depth to his backstory and could make for a compelling gender-fluid character.
The first season of Runaways ended with the group finally fleeing from their villain parents, ending up in the Hostel, the team’s base of operations in the comics. Meanwhile, the Pride has begun to move to oppose their leader Jonah and his plan to bring about the destruction of Los Angeles.
Runaways stars Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, Allegra Acosta, Agel Parker, Ryan Sans, Annie Wersching, Kip Pardue, Ever Carradine, James Marsters, Brigid Brannagh, Kevin Weisman, Brittany Ishibashi, and James Yaegashi.
