Marvel's Runaways Removed From Disney+ And Hulu Without Warning
Before the 2020s, film archivists' worst nightmares were digital degradation or the simple loss of film reels. Now, streaming services have created a new one for them: the purging of original movies and series without a physical release.
HBO Max (or, as it's now known, just Max) has been a leading culprit, but Disney+ isn't blameless either. This is, after all, the same company that used to place its movies in the "Disney Vault" during the reign of physical media. It had previously been confirmed that the service would be removing 50 titles on May 26, 2023, including "Willow," "Big Shot," and "Y: The Last Man." However, it's been discovered that another title was unexpectedly included in the purge: "Marvel's Runaways," which is now no longer listed on Hulu or Disney+ (in the U.S. or internationally).
Nominally set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Runaways" adapted the eponymous comic first created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Aphona. Both the series and the comic are about a group of children who go on the run together after discovering their parents are all super-villains.
There's no official statement yet on why "Runaways" has been removed, but we can assume it's the same reason that other shows and movies are disappearing. Disney CFO Christine McCarthy offered the following explanation/word salad: "We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation." Translation: it's a cost-cutting measure. Removing shows like "Runaways" from the streaming service saves spending on royalties, residuals, licensing fees, and other expenses.
Running to where?
"Runaways" ran for three seasons on Hulu between 2017 to 2019. There were six main characters: the nerdy leader Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz); goth sorceress Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano); Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner), who struggles with her identity and sexuality; Gert Yorkes (Ariela Baer), a junior activist with a pet velociraptor; the jockish Chase Stein (Greg Sulkin); and the mutant Molly Hernadez (Allegra Acosta).
The final season, where the Runaways face off against Morgan le Fay (Elizabeth Hurley), wasn't necessarily planned to be the ending. The finale foreshadows an appearance by a major comic character: Victor Mancha, the android son of Ultron. However, the series was produced by the now-defunct Marvel Television, overseen by comic veterans Jeph Loeb and Joe Quesada (who are created as executive producers on "Runaways"). Unlike the Netflix Marvel shows such as "Daredevil," "Runaways" and its sister show "Cloak & Dagger" were intended to draw a younger audience.
However, any further plans all ended in 2019, when the responsibility for MCU television was moved in-house to Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige's direction. That's why subsequent Disney+ Marvel shows are directly tied to the movies. Aside from especially popular elements (Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin), Marvel Studios doesn't appear to be super interested in preserving the work of the once-independent Marvel Television. "Cloak & Dagger" is still on Hulu, but it could be on the chopping block next.
Fortunately, "Runaways" is still available to purchase or rent on VOD services, including Apple TV, YouTube, Prime Video, Vudu, and Google Play.