IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

IT’S STILL A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR THE HARGREEVES – REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE APOCALYPSE LEADS THEM IN SEASON TWO OF THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY. SFX VISITS THE SET IN TORONTO

- BRYAN CAIRNS

SUPERHEROES typically foil the bad guys and save the day. It’s in their DNA. It’s what they do. The Umbrella Academy seem to have missed that particular memo, however.

Based on the Dark Horse comics by writer Gerard Way and illustrator Gabriel Ba, the Netflix series of the same name introduced viewers to the estranged Hargreeves siblings. That dysfunctional family tree includes (deep breath): Luther/Number One/Spaceboy (played by Tom Hopper), Diego/Number Two/ The Kraken (David Castaneda), Allison/ Number Three/The Rumor (Emmy RaverLampman), Klaus/Number Four/The Séance (Robert Sheehan), Number Five/The Boy (Aidan Gallagher), Ben/Number Six/The Horror (Justin H Min) and Vanya/Number Seven/The White Violin (Ellen Page). The former superhero team reunited for their father’s funeral, and subsequently to prevent an impending apocalypse. However, the family came up rather short on that mission.

The Umbrella Academy’s season one finale ended with meteors showering the Earth and flames engulfing the planet, courtesy of a deranged Vanya. Showrunner Steve Blackman says that shocking cliffhanger – a significant departure from the original comic books – was crafted in order to subvert expectations.

“Obviously, there was a big group of fans who loved the graphic novel, but I needed something really great to bring everyone back,” Blackman tells SFX. “We used the original first volume of comics as inspiration. I wanted to start where they started, and end there. I knew everyone was going to expect the ending if we stuck to the graphic novels. I wanted to surprise everyone.