It’s a kugelblitz!
The Umbrella Academy is Netflix's oddest take on the superhero genre to date. Based on the Dark Horse graphic novels written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, it considers a question rarely asked by comic book series about those who grow up with superpowers. Namely, how screwed up are these kids once they hit adulthood? The answer is very, according to The Umbrella Academy. The show features a set of superpowered people who have super emotional issues. But after two seasons, the Hargreeves siblings seem to have gotten their heads on straight. So how will The Umbrella Academy Season 3 screw them up this time?
When The Umbrella Academy debuted in 2019, it was just after Netflix officially canceled the last of its collaboration with Marvel TV. The proximity of Marvel's demise with Netflix to the Dark Horse Comics show's premiere drew inevitable comparisons. But it also felt like Netflix had made a choice: Why traffic in standard, middle-of-the-road superheroes when you could go super off-the-wall instead?
The audience seemed to agree. In April 2019, Netflix announced The Umbrella Academy drew in 45 million viewers in its first month. Season 2 seems to have also been just as popular, with Variety reporting it as the most-streamed series in August 2020. Independent research group Nielsen confirmed the series was the streamer's biggest show in August by an order of magnitude.
With Season 3 almost upon us in 2022, here's what we know about it so far:
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Trailer
The full trailer for The Umbrella Academy arrived on May 19, 2022, revealing the Sparrow Academy in action for the first time. It also explained how the world was ending this time: It’s a kugelblitz!
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Cast
The Umbrella Academy comprises seven adopted siblings, six of whom are alive. They are played by Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, and Elliot Page. All six are confirmed to return for the new season: Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, and Five, with Page’s character set to come out as Viktor.
Despite allowing Ben (Justin H. Min) to pass to the great beyond in Season 2, the show found a way to bring him back as a member of Hargreeves’ (Colm Feore) “Sparrow Academy” adoptees, who have replaced the Umbrella Academy members in this new timeline where Season 2 left off. Both Min and Feore are confirmed to return for Season 3. Ritu Arya rounds out the cast of returnees as Lila Pitts, introduced in Season 2 as a long-lost member of Hargreeves’ 1989 experiment.
In January 2022, the series also revealed one more new name that would join the cast: Javon Walton, who recently debuted as “Ashtray” in Euphoria Season 2, is joining the cast in an undisclosed role.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Sparrow Academy Cast
However, the significant casting additions for Season 3 will be the aforementioned Sparrow Academy, featuring Justin H. Min as Ben, of course. On Jan. 11, 2021, Netflix revealed the other six members of this alternative version of Hargreeves' superhero group.
The most exciting thing is that Ben is not the new Number One. Hargreeves chose a different boy for that role. Instead, Number One is Marcus, played by Justin Cornwell (Jingle Jangle). Min's Ben is Number Two. Number Three is still the head girl, Fei, played by Britne Oldford (The Path).
Jake Epstein (Suits) plays Alphonso, Number Four. Number Five is the group's second woman, Sloane, played by Genesis Rodriguez (Big Hero 6). Comedian Cazzie David (86ed) is Number Six, Jayme. That makes three girls and three boys a far more gender-balanced group than the first round of superpowered adults.
Then there's Number Seven, who, like Viktor, seems to be the most powerful sibling of all. In the press release, they're listed as an "Existential Dread Inducing Psykronium Cube." Although they seem less a human and more of an oracle, the Cube is also referred to as Christopher. As of this writing, no actor is mentioned to be doing the voiceover, suggesting it's either a massive star doing a surprise cameo or a completely computerized voice.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Plot
Here’s Season 3’s official synopsis:
After putting a stop to 1963’s doomsday, the Umbrella Academy return home to the present, convinced they prevented the initial apocalypse and fixed this godforsaken timeline once and for all. But after a brief moment of celebration, they realize things aren’t exactly (okay, not at all) how they left them. Enter the Sparrow Academy. Smart, stylish, and about as warm as a sea of icebergs, the Sparrows immediately clash with the Umbrellas in a violent face-off that turns out to be the least of everyone’s concerns. Navigating challenges, losses, and surprises of their own – and dealing with an unidentified destructive entity wreaking havoc in the Universe (something they may have caused) — now all they need to do is convince Dad’s new and possibly better family to help them put right what their arrival made wrong. Will they find a way back to their pre-apocalyptic lives? Or is this new world about to reveal more than just a hiccup in the timeline?
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode Titles
On June 8, 2021, as part of Netflix’s “Geeked Week,” series co-creator Steve Blackman revealed the complete list of episode titles:
- Episode 1: “Meet the Family”
- Episode 2: “World’s Biggest Ball of Twine”
- Episode 3: “Pocket Full of Lightning”
- Episode 4: “Kugelblitz”
- Episode 5: “Kindest Cut”
- Episode 6: “Marigold”
- Episode 7: “Auf Wiedersehen”
- Episode 8: “Wedding at the End of the World”
- Episode 9: “Six Bells”
- Episode 10: “Oblivion”
Some observations: Episode 4’s title, “Kugelblitz,” is a term in astrophysics that means “a radiation-formed black hole.” Episode 6’s title, “Marigold,” for those who haven’t read the comics, references the energy source that gave the siblings their powers. The finale title could reference another apocalypse, or Hotel Oblivion, which the siblings create as a prison for their enemies.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Premiere Date
As part of the SXSW panel on March 13, 2022, showrunner Steve Blackman officially revealed The Umbrella Academy Season 3’s premiere date. The teaser, which followed on Instagram, shows the Umbrellas versus the Sparrows, as both teams ready for the inevitable fight.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 will arrive on Netflix will all episodes on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 will arrive on Netflix will all episodes on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix.
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