Marvel's Young Adult Television Series

Marvel's young adult television series are two interconnected American television series in the young adult genre, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios, they are set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledge the continuity of the franchise's films and other television series.

Cable channel Freeform ordered '' Cloak & Dagger'', a youth-oriented superhero series starring Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph, from Marvel Television in April 2016 following years of development. Later in 2016, the similarly younger-skewing '' Runaways'' was ordered from Marvel Television by the streaming service Hulu. Both Freeform and Hulu are Disney owned, and share the two series through a marketing partnership. Despite initially stating that the two series would be kept separate, Marvel Television announced a crossover between the two in August 2019 with Holt and Joseph appearing in the third season of ''Runaways''. The studio first categorized the two series as an interconnected "YA" franchise at that time, with plans to continue having them crossover.

''Runaways'' debuted in November 2017, with ''Cloak & Dagger'' following in June 2018. Both received positive reviews. Freeform ordered another young adult series from Marvel, ''New Warriors'', but the project did not move forward. ''Cloak & Dagger'' and ''Runaways'' were both cancelled by their respective networks before the end of November 2019, and development on any further young adult series was halted a month later when Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios.

Development

At San Diego Comic-Con 2011, Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb announced that a series based on the Marvel Comics characters Cloak and Dagger was in development at ABC Family. In April 2016, when ABC Family had been renamed to Freeform, the series received a straight-to-series order from ABC Signature Studios and Marvel Television. Freeform confirmed that the series would be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and described it as a superhero love story, which ''Variety'' called "a seamless fit for Freeform" given the network's target audience of "Becomers" (the 14–34 age demographic).

In August 2016, Marvel Television announced that Hulu had ordered a new series based on the comics group the Runaways, and the studio had also begun development on a half-hour comedy series based on the New Warriors team, featuring the character Squirrel Girl. The latter series was being offered to cable networks and streaming outlets. Freeform ordered ''New Warriors'' straight-to-series in April 2017. The network's EVP of programming Karey Burke explained that they were interested in a Squirrel Girl series before they ordered ''Cloak & Dagger'' and before they knew that Marvel was developing the series. Burke felt Freeform was the best network for ''New Warriors'' after the success of ''Cloak & Dagger'' with young adults, and she added that both Freeform and Marvel wanted to "find the right characters that felt like they would speak directly to Freeform's audience." Burke said ''New Warriors'' and ''Cloak & Dagger'' would not be "particularly connected" given their different tones, but that a crossover between the two was possible.

Loeb confirmed in July 2017 that these series would all take place in the MCU alongside Marvel's other television series, as well as the franchise's films from Marvel Studios, but said there were no plans to have ''Cloak & Dagger'' crossover with ''New Warriors'', nor have either of those series crossover across networks with the similarly youth-oriented ''Runaways''. Loeb explained that Marvel wanted the individual series to find their footing before crossing over with other elements of the MCU, and felt "things that are happening in L.A. here ''Runaways'' is setare not exactly going to be affecting what's happening in New Orleans here ''Cloak & Dagger'' is set. For ''Runaways'', Loeb added that the characters would not be concerned with the actions of others in the universe, instead focusing on their own issues. This allowed showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to deal with concepts such as superheroics and fantasy without explaining them to the audience, since they are already well established in the MCU, while still focusing on their own characters, which they described as "liberating". Loeb continued that Marvel was excited to "explore the world of the hero and how it affects someone who is trying to figure out who they are as opposed to already knows who they are and now their whole life has to take a left. That's the journey we're going on" with ''Cloak & Dagger'', ''New Warriors'', and ''Runaways''.

''New Warriors'' was no longer set to air on Freeform in November 2017, after the network did not have room in its schedule for the series and gave the project back to Marvel. Marvel was ultimately unable to find a new network for the series. ''Cloak & Dagger'' showrunner Joe Pokaski discussed a potential crossover between his series and ''Runaways'' in August 2018, saying "hopefully there's some karma we can fulfill there" since Cloak and Dagger appear in the ''Runaways'' comics. As part of a marketing partnership between Hulu and Freeform, ''Runaways'' aired on Freeform following its Hulu release while ''Cloak & Dagger'' was made available on Hulu after its Freeform broadcast. In August 2019, Marvel and Hulu announced that Cloak and Dagger would be appearing in an episode of ''Runaways'' third season, with Loeb describing this as "the adventure everyone has been waiting for and we've only hinted at." Later that month, Loeb explained that Marvel categorized ''Runaways'' and ''Cloak & Dagger'' as its "YA", or "young adult", franchise. He said Marvel had wanted to cross the two series over since their first seasons, and this was possible now since Hulu became Disney controlled in May 2019 (Disney already owned Freeform). Loeb added that Marvel Television's push into the young adult genre was in response to Marvel Studios' films doing the same with Spider-Man.

Loeb hoped that the announced crossover episode would be "the first of many". However, ''Cloak & Dagger'' and ''Runaways'' had both been cancelled by the end of November 2019. The next month, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios and stopped developing any new series.

Series

''Runaways'' (2017–2019)

When six teenagers discover their parents are villains, collectively known as the Pride, they reluctantly unite to go against them. Later on the run from their parents, the teenagers live on their own and figure out how to stop the Pride, before learning there might be a mole hiding among them.

''Runaways'', based on the team of the same name, received an order for a pilot and additional scripts from Hulu in August 2016. The pilot was written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who also serve as executive producers and showrunners of the series. In February 2017, Marvel announced the Runaways actors, with Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder, Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru, Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean, Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes, Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein, and Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez. Shortly after, they announced the Pride—the parents of the Runaways—actors, with Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder, Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder, Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru, James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru, Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes, Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes, Annie Wersching as Leslie Dean, Kip Pardue as Frank Dean, James Marsters as Victor Stein, and Ever Carradine as Janet Stein. Hulu officially ordered the series in May 2017, then for a second season in January 2018, and a third in March 2019; this was announced as the final season on November 8, 2019.

A different version of Tina Minoru previously appeared in '' Doctor Strange'', in a minor role as a Master of the Mystic Arts portrayed by Linda Louise Duan. The first season premiered on November 21, 2017. The second season, which was released on December 21, 2018, mentions Roxxon Oil and Wakanda. The third season, released on December 13, 2019, sees Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph reprise their roles as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak from the series '' Cloak & Dagger'' for a crossover episode, and sees the Dark Dimension featured, along with the Darkhold as it was portrayed on ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''.

''Cloak & Dagger'' (2018–2019)

In New Orleans, Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, two teenagers from different backgrounds, acquire superpowers after a life-changing event that revolved around the collapse of an oil platform. As their relationship unfolds, they soon realize that their powers work better when they are together, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging. Tandy and Tyrone later work to solve the abductions of women run by Andre Deschaine while dealing with Detective Brigid O'Reilly's vigilante half Mayhem.

In April 2016, the ABC-owned network Freeform announced a straight-to-series order for ''Marvel's Cloak & Dagger'', based on the characters of the same name, calling it their "first venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe", and describing the show as a "superhero love story". In January 2017, Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph were cast as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak, respectively. Joe Pokaski serves as showrunner for the series. Filming for the series occurs in New Orleans. A second season was ordered on July 20, 2018. The series was canceled on October 24, 2019.

The first season, which premiered on June 7, 2018, sees Roxxon Oil featured, along with the Darkforce, which fuels Cloak's powers and was previously established in ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' and '' Agent Carter'', and makes reference to Tony Stark. The second season premiered on April 4, 2019. Both seasons also make direct references to the setting and characters of the Netflix shows ''Luke Cage'', '' Iron Fist'', and '' Daredevil''.

Cast and characters

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

Abandoned projects

''New Warriors''

Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl, Craig Hollis / Mister Immortal, Dwayne Taylor / Night Thrasher, Robbie Baldwin / Speedball, Zach Smith / Microbe, and Deborah Fields / Debrii, are superpowered young people with abilities very different from the Avengers, who want to make a positive impact in the world even if they are not quite ready to be heroes.

By the end of August 2016, Marvel Television and ABC Studios were developing a half-hour comedy series based on the New Warriors team and featuring Squirrel Girl. In April 2017, Freeform announced a straight-to-series order for ''Marvel's New Warriors'', with Kevin Biegel serving as the series' showrunner and writing the first script. In July 2017, the cast was revealed with Milana Vayntrub starring as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl and Derek Theler as Craig Hollis / Mister Immortal. In November 2017, it was announced that the series would no longer air on Freeform and was being shopped to other networks, with Marvel hoping to be able to air the series in 2018. By September 2019, the series had been unable to find a new broadcaster and was officially considered dead. The series was intended to consist of 10 episodes.

Other

After ordering ''New Warriors'' in April 2017, Burke said Freeform was "absolutely" interested in creating spinoff series for each of the characters on the New Warriors team, in a similar fashion to Marvel's Netflix television series, explaining that the characters Marvel chose for the team "are all really singular and could each carry the show that they're on. They're bound together ... for as long as we choose with this show but it's conceptually tailor-made for spinoffs." These potential spin-offs were still considered likely when Marvel began looking for a new broadcaster for ''New Warriors''. Marvel Television was no longer developing any new series in December 2019.

See also

* Marvel's ABC television series
* Marvel's Netflix television series
* Adventure into Fear

References

{{Marvel Comics live-action TV

Freeform (TV channel) original programming
Hulu original programming