I know that many of us who have been collecting comics for a while are anxious to see some of Marvel's older more establised characters get screen time but I can understand why Marvel would push forward a Runaways film and frankly I think they are right to.
Runaways as a relatively new title I'm sure does not have the same film rights issues that some of the other characters and titles might have which means Marvel don't have to deal with other studios in the production
Also as a new title it has a very obvious and clear first story to tell and it's a great story and I think the first arc of Runaways will make a great film. This of course means that they don't have to worry about delving into back catalouges of characters storys and trying to pick the story to tell from the hundreds that have been told or retconned or whatever over the years and that saves them a bunch of grief since we all know how uppity us comics fans get when they don't pick the incarnation we like ;)
On top of all this; Runaways is a very popular title as well as being critically acclaimed, having won a few awards and been praised for it's writing and originality and Marvel has been able to get the popular writer and creator of the series Brian K Vaughan to work on the screenplay - Bonus!
And as for the people who have issue with the idea of it being teens or aimed at teens, well that's the market... who here didn't start collecting comics when they were a teenager? That's when they get you and that's when they always try and get you and hope that like most of us here you just keep on collecting. That doesn't mean I think they should go all Twilight on it, God no! There's no need a good film will appeal to both teens and adults even if the main characters are teens. The comic did and if marvel are smart they make the film in the same clever and original manner that the comic was made!
Anyway too much waffling not enough fancasting
Runaways tells the story of a bunch of kids who find out there parents are evil members of a group called the Pride and then proceed to runaway...
I'm not gonna cast the parents cause... I don't want to. I'm just going to cast the original Runaways from the first story arc. I've tried to stay close to the ages as specified by the casting call and the comic description, which is 16-18 for all except Molly who 8-10 but as is the way with films i've mostly gone for people slightly older but nothing over 20 to play a teenager and 12 for a ten year old...
Alex Wilder is the son of mob bosses and acts as the groups leader, despite not having any powers he shows himself to be very intelligent and skillful in strategy
For Alex I have picked Jermaine Crawford. Jermaine was great in The Wire as Dukie and has a great look for the part. He got tall and his voice dropped from his early days on the wire and I think he would make a great Alex
Chase Stein is the son of mad scientists and steals some of their inventions to use himself. Chase is a complex character often joking around and being reckless but he also has serious and sometimes dark undertones.
For Chase. I went with TV actor Tony Oller. He's mostly a disney and nickelodeon actor but he seems decent and has a good look for the part. I honestly had a hard time trying to think of someone for Chase and as much as their are a few young flopy aired actors about I didn't want to go too young as he is meant to be the oldest and is quite complex but at the same time I didn't want to go to old either
Nico Minuro is the daughter of Dark Wizards who uses a magical staff that emerges from her chest to cast spells also she dresses kinda goth.
This is the one i'm probably gonna catch the most grief for since Nico is meant to be half Japanese and that's not what I went for cause frankly I couldn't think of anyone... The person I picked though is half Chinese so that's kinda close right? (I can feel even more trouble coming for that statement) :) Hey just look at who I picked and then make your decisions: Malese Jow. She's been in a lot of TV shows and I think has a great look for the part.
Gertrude Yorkes is the daughter of time travellers. She is smart, sarcastic and cynical and she has a dinosaur with a telepathic bond to her.
For Gert I went with Alia Shawkat cause I love her and think she would be perfect the personality of Gert. Gert is meant to be chubby and although I don't think Alia is chubby, her fuller figure would work for this.
Karolina Dean is the daughter of aliens and is thus a super powered rainbow alien (going into the details of her powers etc would take too long)
For Karolina I went with Spencer Locke. Very cute blonde who has done a lot of TV, most recently cougar town and was also in the last resident evil and will be in the new one as well as the character K-Mart
Finally Molly Hayes is the daughter of evil mutants. She has superhuman strength and invulnerability and is the youngest of the team
For Molly I went with an actress who has already played a similar role: Ryan Newman. For the five of you who saw it she played a little girl with super strength in movie flop Zoom. So she'd know what she was doing and Zoom was years ago so I don't think anyone would recognise her from that since she's got a bit older. She's done some TV and I think she looks right for the part.
I thought about the likes of Chloe Moretz and Abigail Breslin but as weird as it is to say I think they are too old to play Molly now. Ryan would be a 12 year old playing a ten year old where the others would be about 15 which is a big difference at that age.
Anyway, for those who stuck with me through my long article, what do you think?