Just because ‘Runaways’ will be available on Hulu, apart from other Marvel series on ABC (‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, ‘Inhumans’), Netflix (‘The Defenders’, et al) and even Freeform (the upcoming ‘Cloak & Dagger’), doesn’t mean that it exists in a bubble. As was discovered at New York Comic Con, a certain artifact from the feature film ‘Doctor Strange’ plays a part on the upcoming teen hero show.
Linda Louise Duan appeared in ‘Doctor Strange’ in a brief scene in which her character, Tina Minoru utilizes The Staff of One to become a powerful dark wizard.
Tina Minoru, of course, is the mother of ‘Runaways‘ leader Nico Minoru, who will be played by Lyrica Okano. Duan will not reprise the role, however, as Brittany Ishibashi will appear on the Hulu series, with James Yaegashi portraying Nico’s father, Robert.
In the comics, Nico can use The Staff of One to perform pretty much any magic spell she desires, but the catch is that she can only cast each spell one time. If she tries to repeat one, either it will have no effect or will cause a random reaction.
Originally, the Staff was absorbed into Nico’s body and she could only summon it by cutting herself, but that was later dropped, most likely because it could be interpreted as condoning self-harm.
As Nico discovers, her parents, along with those of her friends Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner), Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta), Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin), Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz) and Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer), are actually supervillains, part of a collective known as The Pride. Nico and her friends become the heroes known as The Runaways in order to stop their plans and atone for their past crimes.
The wait is almost over. ‘Runaways’ premiers on Hulu on November 21st, 2017.
