Marvel’s Runaways: 10 Things to Know Before Watching Season 3
As Marvel’s Runaways Season 3 drops, it’s time for a refresher ahead of the Hulu series’ final season.
A lot has happened in the span of two seasons, from abductions and murder to alien fetuses and new hosts. It may be hard to keep track of everything.
So, here are 10 things to know before watching Marvel’s Runaways’ final season:
1. PRIDE/Parents
The crux of the premise centers on something the parents do. All six Runaways’ parents are part of what they initially thought was non-profit called PRIDE. Of course, things are what they seem and the kids quickly find out that their parents aren’t wealthy “philanthropists,” but rich murderers instead.
What’s more, they’re responsible for the disappearances and deaths of many young runaways.
The parents of PRIDE try to rationalize the killing and kidnapping. Tying their motives to a pact with an alien life form (more on that later), the kids don’t buy it and become galvanized to fight them the more they find out.
Parents of the year, they are absolutely not.
2. The Runaways
Nico Minoru, Gert Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Chase Stein, Molly Hernandez, and Alex Wilder weren’t always Runaways. Before they found out their parents were murderers, they were friends—until Nico’s older sister is found dead in their home.
The dynamic is more than a little frosty between everyone when we meet them all on Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot.”
Of course, discovering your parents are murderers could change that. From that point on, they grow, fight, and ultimately care for each other, very much like a found family.
But much like in all families, disagreements arise, and by the end of Marvel’s Runaways Season 2, everyone’s been split up. Will Season 3 bring one of our favorite found families back together?
3. Jonah
Through the slow exploration of both the Runaways’ dynamic and the PRIDE, we learn more about what—or who—is at the center of the reason everything begins: Jonah (played by Julian McMahon).
On Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 6, “Metamorphosis,” we get a bit more insight into Jonah and discover that the parents weren’t always evil murderers. Instead, it’s Jonah that ropes them all in, by giving them all things they want, from the staff for Tina to the millions of dollars and Brentwood acreage to the Wilders, Jonah had them all exactly where they needed them.
But for what, exactly?
That gets answered by the season’s end. Of course, the answer involves a massive alien ship buried deep beneath Los Angeles, alien royalty, and a plan of retaliation involving said alien royalty and alien hosts after Jonah’s human host (McMahon) is killed and the ship.
4. All That Power
With the newfound knowledge about what their parents all do together also comes the knowledge that they aren’t all precisely normal teenagers.
For Molly, that means discovering puberty and all of its troubles come with powers that allow her to gain super strength. Though initially freaked out about it, she soon learns to embrace her powers, coming to the aid of the Runaways whenever her impressive super strength becomes necessary.
While Molly’s powers manifested as a result of a lab explosion, Karolina’s powers were a result of genetics.
She quickly discovers during Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 that her bracelet served as an inhibitor of her glowing light…literally. She soon learns that it’s more than just glowing light; Karolina can fly and shoot beams of massive as well.
Karolina gets thrown for a loop, though, when she not only discovers that Jonah is her father, but she also seems to have descended from alien royalty.
Meanwhile, Nico’s journey towards understanding the power she wields with the Staff of One begins reasonably quickly. Along the way, she discovers interesting new aspects of her connection to it.
From the moment she discovers the truth about her parents and her mother eventually hands over the Staff, there’s something ominous about how the power is wielded. We see aspects of that throughout Marvel’s Runaways Season 2, with Nico even pointing it out.
Inevitably, she begins to fear the power and based on teases of what’s to come in the final season. It may involve some level of darkness.
From dark magic to STEM-based abilities, Gert’s ability just so happens to be that she is telepathically connected to a wonderful Deinonychus created and raised in the Yorkes’ basement. Though initially freaked out by her, Gert and Old Lace quickly bond with their ties growing stronger to the point where they can each feel what the other is feeling.
Old Lace becomes a beloved non-human addition to the Runaways team (and fandom).
Lastly, an ability-based more on technology than the others: the Fistigons. From the pilot, Chase seems to be working a pair of powered gauntlets. It doesn’t take long before the Fistigons make their formal debut to the Runaways as he joins the team saving Alex from Darius in early Season 1.
The Fistigons have the power to blast anything in its path with the light beams, and later flamethrowers. It’s one of the pieces of tech that has been used by not only members of the Runaways but PRIDE as well throughout the series.
5. All Aboard!
Navigating love and relationships as a teenager can be difficult. Working through all of it as a teen on the run from homicidal parents, a vengeful alien, and dealing with powers, feelings, and hormones in an underground ruined mansion are on a whole other level.
First up are Nico and Karolina, whose path toward each other includes a pair of detours—in the form of Chase and Alex—before discovering their feelings for each other. Seeing the couple finally realizing it, finally kissing, and seeing their relationship blossom over the first two seasons has been so sweet and fun to watch.
Of course, they’re not without their issues: from dealing with Nico killing Jonah to finding out Karolina had an alien intended the entire time. Through it all, they’ve found their way back to each other, trying to work it out.
Then there’s Gert and Chase, whose relationship has been equal parts sweet and bumpy. Almost from the beginning, it’s clear that Gert’s had a crush on Chase. What we find out as more time with the Runaways passes, and during Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 9, “Doomsday,” is that Chase reciprocated Gert’s feelings.
The pair share a steamy we-might-be-dying-soon hook up at the dance (where Deanoru shares their first kiss as well). What follows is a perfect storm of emotional baggage, family trauma, and anxiety.
It’s difficult for the pair to adjust to life on the run, with Gert working on living without her anxiety medication and Chase dealing with the complicated dynamic with his father. Despite their love for each other, their own issues leave them on the outs at the end of season 2.
With the pair apart from each other and the other runaways, will they find a way back to each other this season?
6. The Hostel
Speaking of underground ruined mansions, the Hostel is introduced on Marvel’s Runaways Season 2 after Karolina is led to the location, thanks to Jonah, in the Hollywood Hills.
There, the group of teens fought, laughed, danced, and essentially built a home underground. A home that protected them, with the help of a few runaways’ abilities. The Hostel becomes home base and mostly what feels like a beacon.
Here’s hoping that the beacon can lead all of the missing runaways back to the place they called home after escaping their parents’ hold.
7. The Divine Pairing
The final season is bringing a treat to fans with a crossover we’ve been waiting for! Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, will be playing a role this season as Ty and Tandy make an appearance.
Tyrone and Tandy make up the divine pairing, who harness powers and abilities that allow you to see your worst fears and happiest hopes and moments. Together, the cloak (darkness) and dagger (light) balance each other out.
They have their own complicated dynamic as they spent much of their time fighting giant corporations, human trafficking, their family issues, and police brutality. This, of course, doesn’t include the wild and crazy world of doppelgangers, among other things.
8. Time Travel
It’s been hinted at before during season 1 and a bit in season 2, and given that we’ve seen a more disheveled-looking Chase on the Marvel’s Runaways Season 3 trailer, there’s a chance time travel might be playing a role.
Time travel on this show seems to have more of a technological application than on most shows, getting glimpses of it while spending time in Victor Stein’s lab, at times flashing images of Chase trying to communicate with his father in an effort not to involve the Fistigons.
9. Where Are the Runaways?
By the end of Marvel’s Runaways Season 2, most of the runaways are apart, either voluntarily (Chase) or against their will.
After being chased by the PRIDE parents, Gert is on the road with Old Lace and her father in a cage in the back of their car, Karolina and Chase are stuck in the tubes we grew familiar with during Season 2, and the remainder are left to wonder where the others are back at the Hostel.
Will they catch on quickly, or will they have to do a fair amount of hunting their friends down?
10. The Chambers
The hosts have sinister plans in mind when it comes to Janet, Chase, and Karolina, who are stuck in the healing chambers. By the end of season 2, we have an idea of what those chambers are capable of.
It’s what kept Victor Stein alive for a while, and Jonah described it as a healing algorithm of sorts. Ultimately, it’s a place where they get trapped in familiar situations. For Victor, that was a small city block that he grew up on.
What could those moments and memories be for Janet, Chase, and Karolina, who are now trapped in those chambers courtesy of Jonah and the two other hosts that were found after the ship explodes?
Even with all we know, there are still so many questions about where the final season will take us. Who’s the fourth host? What role does Morgan Le Fay play? Who will make it out alive? Only time will tell!
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Are you excited for the final season of Marvel’s Runaways? What do you expect to happen? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.