'Guardians of the Galaxy' Replaced the 'Runaways' Film In the Early MCU Slate

Writer Brian K. Vaughan has been waiting for almost 15 years until his project Runaways would be released online. The new Hulu show has already garnered some attention for introducing the world to Old Lace, the Staff of One and a ragtag team of teenagers trying to escape their villainous parents. He certainly shows a lot of pride in seeing the project come to life while reflecting on the long path the show took before it would finally be realized on-screen.

I cannot begin to describe it. When I helped create the book, I was much closer in age to these actors playing the Runaways. Now, I’m much closer in age to their parents. It’s surreal to meet my fictional children when I’ve brought my actual children to the set, to meet my fictional kids. It couldn’t have been cooler. They’re all so nice. It feels like they’re ripped right out of the pages of the book. It’s fantastic.

It is great to see the enthusiasm the writer has for seeing his project being adapted to the small screen. Vaughan is also given some leeway to interact behind-the-scenes but ensures that the show’s showrunners have full control over what direction it has. They did use the opportunity to ask him about various characters, a pronunciation of a name and also wanted his input for changes. The writer has been involved with the project for quite some time and is gleeful about being able to ensure that this show is brought to life. One major aspect that makes Runaways such an interesting project is its place in the early days of the MCU. Originally, Runaways was a part of the studios early MCU slate with Kevin Feige set to produce, but somehow it never came together (they even had Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce do an early draft). We now know what managed to sideline the project.

I was, yeah. I was thinking about doing that at Marvel. And then they were very nice about it, but they decided they were going to go in another direction with this obscure book called Guardians of the Galaxy. I thought they were crazy. Guardians of the Galaxy? That’s less well-known than Runaways! That’s just another indication that Kevin Feige is a genius and he knows exactly what he’s doing. I’m glad, though. As much as I love Marvel Studios, Runaways feels like it’s much more at home on television than it would have been on the big screen.

There you have it. Guardians certainly proved to be the right choice, as the franchise managed to pull in quite an audience. Still, it would have been interesting to see what direction the project would have taken if it was made for the silver screen. Vaughan is right that these characters are better fitted for the small screen, especially with the more grounded direction of the story. Still, if Marvel Studios tackled the project, it could have been quite an interesting direction for them to help out or cameo during the attack on New York City.

How do you think a Runaways film would be like? Would you have wanted them as part of the Avengers?