Inevitably, Marvel's Runaways and Cloak & Dagger beg comparison, since -- unlike a bulk of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (so far) -- the two Marvel Television series follow young adult characters. Both sets of characters were also linked in the comics; after all, prior to Runaways, Cloak & Dagger's Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson were Marvel's original runaways. However, in theme and tone, Freeform's Cloak & Dagger has much more in common with the Marvel Netflix shows than it does with Hulu's Runaways.

Let's start off by looking at the basic premise of both shows. Runaways' is pretty straightforward: "Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. What if you found out they actually were?" Accordingly, the six main characters -- Alex, Nico, Chase, Karolina, Gertrude and Molly -- discover their parents murder runaways and set out to stop them. Cloak & Dagger, on the other hand, acts like more of a character piece, examining two young adults who lead very different lives but are somehow connected through a mystic power. While Tandy and Tyrone will likely discover they have more in common than they ever realized, they start out with very different goals, unlike the protagonists of Runaways, who are united by an inciting incident.

RELATED: Agent Carter’s Final Season Actually Set Up Cloak & Dagger

On the face of it, Runaways is inherently a little sillier than Cloak & Dagger. Evil parents! Magic staff! Genetically modified dinosaur! In this, the Hulu show is typical MCU fare, using larger-than-life circumstances as a means through which its more serious themes can be established. Runaways, of course, teased out complex relationships and explored grounded topics like familial abuse, but its main drive revolved around teens who sought to overcome their villainous parents (however pure their intentions may have been). The protagonists' mission to stop their evil parents simply consumed most of the show's screen time.

Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but it does drive a wedge between Runaways and its sister series Cloak & Dagger. Only three episodes in, Cloak & Dagger has turned its focus towards more real world topics. For instance, with Billy Johnson's death, the show is diving into the topic of police brutality, the unwarranted deaths of innocent black men at their hands and the ramifications it has on the victim's family. Tandy's storyline, on the other hand, addresses sexual abuse, corporate greed and espionage, substance abuse and more. However, Ty and Tandy's powers -- the thing that makes them extraordinary -- take more of a backseat to these much more grounded topics; the supernatural element of Cloak & Dagger feels more like a window dressing than the focus.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='How%20Cloak%20and%20Dagger%20Stacks%20Up%20Against%20Marvel%20Netflix']



In exploring such weighty topics, Cloak & Dagger finds itself in league with Marvel's Netflix series, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. To break the shows down to their most basic themes, Daredevil Season 1 explicitly explored the consequences of gentrification; Jessica Jones Season 1 tackled sexual assault and PTSD; and Luke Cage addressed racism and gang violence. For most part, the main thrust of the plot pursued these weighty, real world topics, with the main characters' super powers acting as an added bonus rather than the crux of the argument. What's more, with Daredevil and Luke Cage, the protagonist faced off against villains who had no super powers at all, contributing to the grounded nature of the shows' themes.

To accompany its serious themes, Cloak & Dagger has a very serious tone. Over the first four episodes of the fledgling series, hardly a joke is cracked. For all intents and purposes, the Freeform series is a straight up drama, no comedy involved. This is also in line with the Marvel Netflix series, which also have a much darker tone than the MCU at large. Arguably, the Marvel Netflix series even have a touch more comedy than Cloak & Dagger, since they tend to have comic relief characters, like Daredevil's Foggy Nelson, or a protagonist that drops dry jokes, like Jessica Jones. Nevertheless, both Cloak & Dagger and the Marvel Netflix series have a lot in common when it comes to tone, especially in comparison to the MCU's movies and shows like Runaways, Agent Carter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

RELATED: How Roxxon Quietly Became the Biggest Threat in the MCU (After Thanos)

In true Marvel Netflix style, Cloak & Dagger is also a bit of a slow burn. The show used its first three episodes to acquaint viewers with its characters, using the screen time to flesh out Tandy and Tyrone and their world. At the time of writing, the two characters' stories aren't even connected yet. While the accident with the Roxxon rig establishes their common ground, they live completely separate lives. As the show continues, it'll likely show just how connected they truly are, but -- at the time of writing -- they have yet to have a conversation lasting longer than two minutes. Similarly, the Marvel Netflix shows took their time in building up to major moments; for instance, it took all of Season 1 for Daredevil to get his costume, while Jessica Jones caught and lost Kilgrave three times before she defeated him. Runaways, on the other hand, kicked off its inciting incident in the very first episode.

If you're a fan of Marvel Netflix, Cloak & Dagger is the show for you. If you were looking for something more in line with Runaways, though, you may walk away disappointed. At first glance, Cloak & Dagger and Runaways seem to have a lot in common, but a closer look proves Cloak & Dagger to house a much darker world than the one found in Runaways. This doesn't mean one show is superior to the other; both series have their own sets of pros and cons, independent of one another. However, if you have a preference for the darker, grittier stories of Marvel Netflix, Cloak & Dagger is right up your alley.

Airing Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT on Freeform, Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, as well as Andrea Roth as Tandy’s mother Melissa Bowen, Gloria Reuben as Tyrone’s mother Adina Johnson, Miles Mussenden as Tyrone’s father Michael Johnson, Carl Lundstedt as Tandy’s partner in crime Liam, James Saito as Dr. Bernard Sanjo and J.D. Evermore as Detective Connors.