Runaways Season 1 ended with Karolina, Nico, Alex, Molly, Chase, and Gert finally “running away” from their privileged lives after a battle with the series’ big bad — their own parents. Hulu announced that Season 2 will have 13 episodes, instead of 10, and will premiere during the holiday season, December 21, 2018.

Hulu even released a little teaser to go with their Season 2 announcement:

RUNAWAYS SEASON 2 DECEMBER 21ST YOU'RE WELCOME pic.twitter.com/b1tZCoRk9n — mindy (@blondeminas) August 13, 2018

Since Runaways is a very character driven comic book adaptation, let’s break down what we’re hoping to see for each person.

Karolina and Nico

Karolina in Season 1 was a girl struggling with her identity as she tried to figure out her sexuality and was forced to deal with finding out the truth behind the Church of Gibborim. The season ended with Karolina getting the girl, and finding out the true origins of her powers with the reveal of Jonah as her father.

Just like the comics, the show is already hinting at multiple suspects for a potential mole in the group. In the season finale, Karolina was kidnapped by Jonah, which provided them the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with each other. Was this enough time for Jonah to sway his daughter to his side? Karolina is still trying to figure out herself, just like any teen, but especially a teen who has superpowers. Does she see Jonah as the key to figuring out who she is? I hope it’s just a red herring like the many misdirections in the comics.

Season 2 should focus on Karolina’s relationship with Nico. A romantic pairing, that up to this point, has not been fully explored in the comics. All of Season 1 Karolina hid who she liked and who she was, and now she has an opportunity to be truly open. Ironically, Karolina is finally able to be her true self as the group is forced to run and “hide” away because their parents have painted them as fugitives.

On the flip side, Nico didn’t even know she had feelings for Karolina until Karolina boldly kissed her before their big battle with their parents. It took losing her to help Nico understand what Karolina meant to her. This was also the event that helped push her into her inevitable leadership role. Just like the comics, in Season 1 Alex quickly transitioned into a leader for the team. After events I won’t spoil here, Nico was then forced into a leadership role shortly after. This is a transition I can see the show taking in Season 2, especially with Nico’s hesitation towards Alex’s motives.

Gert and Chase

A classic Runaways couple – Chase and Gert finally got together by the end of Season 1 with Chase realizing that he had feelings for Gert. Just like Nico and Karolina, we see the show diving into their relationship more next season as they explore their insecurities together. As an individual, Gert was forced to leave Old Lace at the end of the season to only find that her pet dinosaur had followed the group. Not only do we want Gert’s relationship with Chase to grow stronger, but we want to see her connection with grow Old Lace as well. As for Chase, he’s going to have a lot to deal with as his father teams up with Jonah. In the finale, Jonah stated that Victor will have a big role to play for things to come.

Molly

Molly’s arc in Season 1 focused on the discovery of her powers. She’s got superstrength that she uses with a smile. As the youngest member of the Runaways, the group is very protective of her. It came as such a blow when the Pride parents framed their children for the death of the women sacrificed. Now they’re are spreading lies that the teens have kidnapped Molly. Our speculation is that Season 2 will heavily focus on the Runaways being fugitives. Perhaps a citizen will the Runaways with Molly and report the teens. This will up the drama even more!

Alex

Without spoiling the comic books, Alex’s character arc is building up to be very interesting for next season. We love that his motives aren’t completely spelled out, and even as a comic book reader, you don’t know where the show is going to take his character. The season ended with him secretly talking to his father’s old friend, Darius. We can see Alex continue walking the line between good and evil, compared to the rest of the team who truly want to escape their parents’ destructive shadows. This will have the team question his motives, which will bring Nico closer to her leadership role from the comic books.

The Parents

The television show has made the parents so much more complicated than they were in the source material. In the comics, they served their purpose as the evil parents that the kids had to run away from, but their personalities weren’t as distinguishable. They were mostly defined by their aesthetic and power set. In the TV show, the parents have their own arcs, and there’s more time to explore their individual relationships with their children.

Season 1 ended with the parents’ decision to go up against Jonah. But does this group have a strong enough bond to fully ignite this plan? We predict next season will quickly have the group stabbing each other in the backs to protect their children but cause a bigger wedge between parent and child because of the methods they use to try and “protect” them. That’s what’s so interesting about the TV show’s version of the parents, they obviously care about their children, they just have a horrible way of showing it.

Possible New Characters

In the comics, the Runaways meet a lot of new characters that end up joining the team along the way. Klara Prast and Victor Mancha to name a few, but the character that makes the most sense to join this season is Xavin. Xavin was introduced in Runaways Volume 2 #7 as a Super-Skrull shapeshifter who had the arrangement to get married to Karolina. The show will have to work around the Super-Skrull stuff, depending on the Fox/Disney deal, but the arranged marriage could be a perfect way to explore more of Jonah’s origins if he’s the one who planned the marriage because of his culture.

Xavin is a captivating character and has a very unique story pertaining to gender. Xavin is a character who can change from male to female, and vice-versa. Karolina preferred for her betrothed to be female in the comics, pertaining to her sexual preference, but Xavin began to struggle not knowing which gender they preferred themselves. This a character we need to see on television! It was such a unique take on a story about gender that mainstream audiences should witness.

Runaways Season 2 will premiere December 21, 2018 on Hulu.