When Marvel debuted Runaways back in 2003, it took the superhero genre in a compelling new direction. Not only did it have teenage characters who were more than sidekicks or mini versions of adults, but it also upped the stakes by pulling a Game of Thrones and killing off major characters. Hulu's series based on the books is coming next month, and the first trailer pushes all the right buttons.

Created and written by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Y: the Last Man), Runaways is about a group of six teenage friends who discover their parents are secretly a gang of supervillains called the Pride. Torn between loyalty to their families and a desire to make things right, the characters are ambivalent and complex right out of the gate. Some of them have been trained in the ways of superpowers by their parents, while others are just figuring out what they can do. Led by tactical mastermind Alex (Rhenzy Feliz), they quickly decide to band together and fight evil. But that means running away from home, leaving everything they love behind, and taking on the people they once believed were their protectors.

In this trailer, we meet the founding members of the Runaways (it's not clear whether this show will kill any of them off the way the comics did). There's Alex, who shows his friends the secret room where their parents are sacrificing innocent people. Molly (Allegra Acosta) has super strength, probably inherited from her mutant telepath parents. Gert (Ariela Barer) has a mind-meldy connection with a genetically engineered dinosaur from the future named Old Lace. Then there's Karolina (Virginia Gardner), who thought she was human until she turned into a glowing, solar-powered alien known as a Majesdania. Chase (Gregg Sulkin) is the son of mad scientists, and we see him with the fire-controlling "fistigons" that he's stolen from his parents.

Best of all, we see the sorceress Nico (Lyrica Okano) using the "Staff of One," a magical object that helps boost the powers she gained from her evil wizard parents. In the comic, Nico gains the Staff of One when her mother tries to kill her with it, which tells you just how dark Runaways can get. It's not clear how she has gotten it in the TV version, but from this trailer there's no hiding from the fact that these kids' parents are full evil. I also love that James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) is playing Chase's father.

Runaways is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there are no official crossover plans with any of the other properties. The show premieres on Hulu on November 21, but if you can't wait, you should start reading the comics. The new series is currently written by bestselling author Rainbow Rowell, and she's killing it.

Listing image by Hulu/Marvel