When The Umbrella Academy ended its first season on a time-traveling cliffhanger, fans knew Season 2 was not a matter of what, but when. The first images of the new season promised a 1960s era romp, but there was little other information. All fans knew was that the Hargreeves siblings had a couple of decades before they would even be born to fix the end of the world, which was now 50 years away... except that's not actually the case. The Umbrella Academy Season 2 trailer reveals it may be the 1960s now, but the world's end is still upon them.
The trailer also arrived with a new synopsis:
Five warned his family (so, so many times) that using his powers to escape from Vanya’s 2019 apocalypse was risky. Well, he was right — the time jump scatters the siblings in time in and around Dallas, Texas. Over a three-year period. Starting in 1960. Some, having been stuck in the past for years, have built lives and moved on, certain they’re the only ones who survived. Five is the last to land, smack dab in the middle of a nuclear doomsday, which — spoiler alert! — turns out is a result of the group’s disruption of the timeline (déjà vu, anyone?).
Check out the trailer, which features a new song from show creator Gerard Way, entitled "Here Comes The End."
But what is coming along with the end? Here are a few clues.
When the Hargreeves family time traveled, the world did not remain a static fixture around them. Instead, it adjusted to their position. The apocalypse is still in 10 days, currently scheduled for Nov. 25, 1963.
If that date feels familiar, it should. On Nov. 22, 1963, then-President John F. Kennedy got in an open-topped vehicle and was driven down a street in Dallas to wave to the people, only to be shot as the motorcade rounded into Dealey Plaza. Exactly how that leads to an apocalyptic scenario remains to be seen.
Number One, Luther, was always all about his strength. Using his ability to make a living in the 1960s, when boxing was a major sport, is a no-brainer, and most likely means he's become a household name in this era.
Allison, meanwhile, is no longer famous in this new time period. Season 1 barely addressed that Allison was the only Black member of the Hargreeves family, focusing on her celebrity instead. But it seems that Season 2 will focus more on this aspect of who she is, since she's now trapped in a time before the Civil Rights Act was signed.
Klaus is now the head of a hippie-cult doomsday movement. Like Luther, this makes him a celebrity, the kind that the FBI would likely be watching closely.
But his denial that Ben is in the 1960s is important. Fans have debated if Ben is a ghost, or merely on a different plane of existence. His ability to time travel argues for the latter, but his continued inability to be seen might be proof of the former. Either way, Klaus lying about Ben being with them in the past might be enough that the other siblings finally make it their business to see Ben themselves.
The Umbrella Academy's saddest characters from Season 1 also look to have had their lives turned upside-down. Diego spent most of the first season with a chip on his shoulder for being "Number 2." And as the abused and gaslit Number 7, Vanya tried to soldier on as best she could with no powers.
Both now look remarkably happy. Diego is cleaned up and professional, with a new girlfriend. And Vanya seems to have found a family, the kind she always wanted. The only question is whether she remembers the powers she discovered in Season 1's finale.
The organization overseeing the space-time continuum held some of The Umbrella Academy's best characters in Season 1. This time, it looks to be a trio of ruthless Swedish assassins chasing down the out-of-time Hargreeves siblings, instead of Cha-Cha and Hazel.
But perhaps more disturbing, it appears the Handler is no longer played by Kate Walsh. Five's new boss is not the same as the old boss, but instead a creature with a fish tank for a head.
When The Umbrella Academy Season 1 began, Reginald Hargreeves had just passed away. As an alien, he viewed his "children" as a projects rather than people, which is why the siblings are emotional disasters.
In the new timeline, Hargreeves is still alive, so it is pretty much inevitable his children will seek him out. It remains to be seen how this time paradox of meeting his children and seeing how they turned out might affect their upbringing the next time 1989 comes around.
The Umbrella Academy Season 2 will be on Netflix July 31.
