The following is an excerpt from roundtable interviews that took place at New York Comic Con in October…

The full, 13-episode second season of Marvel’s Runaways is set to drop Friday, December 21st on Hulu, and according to co-showrunner Stephanie Savage, fans can expect it to be “a whole new show,” in a certain sense. Not only will it be grittier and more action-packed than the previous season, but it also delivers on a long-promised aspect of the series (heck, it’s even in its title).

Answering a question regarding the second season at a New York Comic Con press roundtable, Savage told journalists, “I think the most fun thing, that fans will really enjoy, is that [the Runaways] are actually on the run now. It’s a whole new show. The kids have a different dynamic with each other, different dynamics with their parents, we’re shooting in different parts of Los Angeles. We have two really cool new sets that we have this year, that I think fans are really going to like. So, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s really different.”

One of the more common complaints regarding Runaways’ first season, was that it took until the final episode for the teens, Alex, Nico, Karolina, Chase, Gert and Molly to finally leave their evil (or at least complicated) parents/family drama behind and hit the road. In fact, among Marvel Television programs, taking long-winded paths to reach iconic “superhero moments” has been a common criticism in general, and although Runaways has a higher episode count this time around (from 10 to 13), by the sound of it, season 2 will be a bit busier and faster.

Flickering Myth asked actress Ariela Barer, who plays the socially conscious and Old Lace-bonded Gertrude Yorkes, about the difference between coming into season 2 as opposed to the first season, to which she replied, “Our very first day on set this year was the day of the pushing the cart [which we see in the first episode], so it was like a 14 hour day of just running constantly and we were like ‘OK, we’re setting the tone, pretty early that we are the Runaways, and there is action and the stakes are much higher.’ We had all kind of a little bit been told what we were gonna do, I mean like, in episode 10, I say very explicitly, ‘I’ve lost my medication.’ So I got to spend my hiatus learning about withdrawal from [anti-anxiety] medication and talking to people and doing research and also just investigating within myself, like what that anxiety would be like. So we came very strong, and I’m really excited to see what we’ve put out there.”

Virginia Gardner, returning to the role of bioluminescent inhuman Karolina Dean, also touched on the topic of season 1 vs. season 2, saying, “Last season was mansions in Brentwood, and this season it’s soup kitchens and Griffith Park and Downtown LA. It feels grittier, it feels like you’re seeing more of that reality. It’s still a TV show, so there’s hair and makeup involved, but I think it’s less glam than it was last year. This season it definitely is more we’re on the streets. We’re surviving. It feels like we’re trying to find our footing within that new circumstance.”

On a stunt coordination front as well, Gardner continued, “Last season we never even fully had a stunt rehearsal because we didn’t ever really need them — it wasn’t that involved, and this season we had so many stunt rehearsals. We were all pretty beat up after a few action sequences, so it’s last season on steroids for sure.”

Tech guru Chase Stein actor Greg Sulkin echoed his castmates sentiments as well: “The show is bigger and more expansive. We have an incredible DP, we’ve got some incredible new cast members this season. It’s so good, it’s so fun.. there are a few more emotional scenes. As an actor, we’ve really been able to find our beats this season.”

SEE ALSO: Marvel’s Runaways actor Gregg Sulkin on working with his “best friend” Rhenzy Feliz, their dynamic in season 2 and what genre he wants to explore more

Check out the new season in its entirety tomorrow, as it kicks off with the Allison Liddi-Brown-directed and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage-written, “Gimme Shelter.”

Justin Cook