The Umbrella Academy
Cast: Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castañeda, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher
Creator: Jeremy Slater
The end of the world, time travel and superheroes trying to reverse the apocalypse are the flavor of the season. As viewers prepare for Marvel’s Avengers: EndgameNetflix brings its latest set of superheroes on a mission to save the world with The Umbrella Academy.
With great power comes great responsibility. This is a concept that is not recognized by our superheroes in The Umbrella Academy for the longest time. Based on the Dark Horse comic series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, the web series introduces us to a family of super-powered individuals, except they’ve all been adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves aka The Monocle.
The first season of The Umbrella Academy is a mix of the first two comic books, Apocalypse Suite and Dallas. While fans would immediately notice and still love the difference in tonality and storylines, others may find it creepy when it comes to superhero stories. You see, The Umbrella Academy is not your average superhero show where things go back to normal at the end. It is the story of a dysfunctional family where children are subjected to enormous physical and mental pressure so that they can learn to control their specific skills.
The series follows 43 children born on the same day around the world, only seven of whom make it to the Umbrella Academy founded by The Monocle. He numbers the children according to their custom to him and prefers to call them nothing but their numbers. This ever brooding character is often a point of contention between our heroes as they reflect on their loveless upbringing and the personal trauma they all endured as children. Of course, they act more like a flawed team than siblings. The Monocle carries out its latest plan in hopes of reuniting them after a disaster years ago in an attempt to save the world from an imminent apocalypse.
The huge roster of actors, such as Tom Hopper (number one aka Spaceboy), David Castañeda (number 2 aka The Kraken), Emmy Raver-Lampman (number 3 aka The Rumor), Robert Sheehan (number 4 aka The Seance), Aidan Gallagher ( number 5), Justin H. Min (number 6 aka The Horror) and Ellen Page (number 7 aka The White Violin) feel right at home. They are all capable of giving a very different view of those with powers. They’re broken, especially number 7, who has always been depressed and sidelined because she’s not special like the other six (at least, that’s what we should remember). But she is “the extraordinary” of the whole, which is revealed later in the show and makes up the climactic climax scene in the final episode.
For most of its run, the series continues to build new mysteries, but fails to answer some pertinent questions as the curtains fall. It could be possible that showrunner Steve Blackman has some secrets set aside for next season, and in the meantime the entire part 3 will hit shelves sometime in August this year. So there is more to discover and the first season establishes the universe in that sense very well.
However, the show is slow with too many quiet spaces in between. The characters’ individual storylines take time to settle in, and through the fifth episode, the creators build plots, familiarizing their viewers with ‘The Umbrella Academy’ and its eccentrics. Watch it for the performances of a team of misfits as they go through a bizarre upbringing and a mission to prevent the end of the world.
Rating: 3/5