Ten years ago, My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way made a big splash in comics with the debut of his unconventional superhero miniseries, The Umbrella Academy. Alongside artist Gabriel Bá, Way depicted the story of seven intriguingly super-powered children who were adopted by a space alien posing as a wealthy adventurer so that they could save the world as a team. However, the main story took place decades later, after the children grew into dysfunctional adults. It’s been a long, long wait for new Umbrella Academy adventures, but they are finally coming to television, courtesy of Netflix.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has picked up The Umbrella Academy for a 10-episode first season. Way is on board as a co-executive producer, with the series being adapted for television by Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist). Judging from the description released by Netflix, it appears that the first season will be based upon the Apocalypse Suite miniseries. Within that story, the children reunite as adults after the apparent death of their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves. However, the true threat emerges when one of their own embraces evil.
As you can see, this is a very unusual group of heroes. The most normal person in the family is arguably The White Violin—as she doesn’t seem to have any powers at all. Spaceboy, the leader, has the body of a Martian gorilla thanks to a mishap on a mission. The Kraken’s power is that he doesn’t need to breathe (although he’s also quite adept with knives and fighting. Think of him as the combination Hawkeye/Batman of the group).
And then there are the even more unsettling ones. Like The Rumor, whose power is rewriting reality by lying (which: hoo); The Séance has the ability to talk to the dead, while The Horror literally has monsters under his skin. As for Number Five? He’s a time traveler, so he’s the same age in the past as he is in the present. He just doesn’t follow a linear path in time.
Assuming the series gets a second season pickup—possibly adapting the “Dallas” miniseries?—that would leave only original material for any story arcs beyond that. Way and Bá haven’t released a new Umbrella Academy miniseries since 2008 (although the “Hotel Oblivion” storyline has been mentioned many times in press interviews), so—if nothing else—we hope that the TV series leads to more comics by Way and Bá!
Are you excited about The Umbrella Academy TV series? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Dark Horse Comics
