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Marvel's Runaways
Joining a show well into its run, one with a devoted fanbase and decades of source material on shelves and in long boxes across the world, not only as a major recurring character but as that season’s big bad? Honey, it do take nerve—and Elizabeth Hurley has the nerve.
In Marvel’s Runaways Season 3, the titular teen heroes run afoul of one of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe: Morgan le Fay. It took someone of Hurley’s talents to bring a character of this stature to life. Not only is the dark sorceress Morgan le Fay a part of Arthurian legend with over eight centuries of cultural relevance, the Marvel Comics take on the character is a bonafide Stan Lee addition to the comics-verse whose first appearance in Black Knight #1 in 1955 predates the birth of the entire modern Marvel Comics universe. If you think scholars of Arthurian legend are nitpicky, you’ve never met an Avengers fan.
Hurley, best known for her iconic turn as Vanessa Kensington in 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, brings a bewitching mix of sultriness and sadism to the role. How did Marvel’s Runaways pull Hurley into the Marvel Universe? We spoke to the show runners and stars of the Hulu series at New York Comic-Con for the facts behind the lore.
“Elizabeth Hurley we had worked with before on Gossip Girl, so we already knew how incredible she was and what an amazing part of an ensemble she is [when] coming into a show or joining a cast,” said Josh Schwartz, co-creator of the Runaways adaptation. “But Morgan le Fay is a pretty incredible character where very few people can come in and just have that charisma, that seductiveness, and also scare the bejesus out of you. Elizabeth brought all of that to the table.”
“And look amazing in a cape of crows,” added co-show runner Stephanie Savage, referencing the quite frankly jaw-dropping ensemble Hurley dons in order to sow Morgan le Fay’s seeds of corruption.
That look, a green velvet gown with a devilish neckline adorned with ancient jewelry and a truly intimidating cloak, is a showstopper—and the cast noticed.
“I was drooling—no i’m kidding,” said Lyrica Okano, who was joking but also, could you really fault a such a reaction? As the witch Nico Minoru, Okano spent the most screen time with the manipulative le Fay, and Okano relished that opportunity. “It was amazing to work with Elizabeth Hurley. She looks amazing, obviously, and I just kinda had to stand back and learn from her a bit. There’s a lot of green screen time, so we were both figuring it out together. She did it with such grace and class, [she’s an] awesome person.”
“Elizabeth Hurley is amazing and when I first saw her I was literally floored,” said Ariela Barer, who plays the snarky Gert. But Barer, unlike her superhero alter-ego, had nothing but awe for the villain—well, the actor that plays the villain. “She is the most stunning and terrifying Morgan le Fay we could’ve ever asked for.”
It also wasn’t lost on the cast, which skews heavily female unlike many superhero teams in film and TV history, that Morgan le Fay is the rare example of a female villain introduced with the gravitas to dominate an entire season of television. “I was extremely excited to have [an antagonist] who was female, hell yeah!” said Allegra Acosta, who plays the super strong Molly Hayes. “We deserve that on our show and Elizabeth was just so amazing and such a pro.”
Morgan le Fay’s introduction into the world of Runaways doesn’t just put the kids in peril, it completely flips their entire worldview upside down. After two seasons spent dealing with street-level violence and alien invaders, the mystical Morgan le Fay pushes the show into terrifying territory. She’s like nothing the Runaways, not even the magically-inclined Nico, have ever faced before.
“We were so excited,” said Virginia Gardner, a.k.a. the powerful extraterrestrial Karolina Dean. “We feel like she really elevated the show and was gonna bring a new fanbase.” Rhenzy Feliz, who plays the always strategic Alex Wilder, echoed Gardner’s comment. “I think fans are gonna be happy with the sort of world she brings in.”
You can visit that world right now, as Marvel’s Runaways Season 3 is streaming on Hulu.
