Runaways boss discusses the importance of music on the Hulu drama

While Marvel’s Runaways is jam-packed with 17 series regulars, there’s actually another character on the Hulu drama.

Under the guidance of music supervisor Alex Patsavas — who worked with Runaways bosses Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage on The O.C. and Gossip Girl — the teen superhero drama has crafted a unique sound that has become a character of its own, one that evolved as much as the Runaways and Pride did over the course of 10 episodes.

“We were looking for something that felt both modern and in the tone of the show, but also that felt reflective of the diversity of the cast,” Schwartz tells EW. “We created a playlist or a sound for each of the Runaways when we started. Obviously as they start to come together, those lines blur, but hopefully it feels like there’s a uniform sound.”

The same can be said of Pride, whose importance in the show has been emphasized much more than what readers saw in the 2003 comics on which the show is based. “There’s the Glass Animals song that plays in episode 7 when Victor [James Marsters] is confronting Robert [James Yaegashi] that plays over this open house at the school, and the parents are all mingling and there’s tension building. That Glass Animals track really felt like Pride in a nutshell, where something like Bleachers or LCD [Soundsystem] or Sofi Tukker feels like it has a little bit of a youthful edge for the Runaways, but they all still feel like they can live inside the same show. Also, we have a lot of strong women on the show, so we wanted some strong female artists represented as well musically. And in episode 9, we really go for the big teen anthems.”

Viewers can find the soundtrack list for the episodes on this handy Twitter page.

New episodes of Marvel’s Runaways are released Tuesdays on Hulu.