While Netflix’s superhero show might have fallen apart later in its run, the sci-fi fantasy series had one of the strongest starts in the history of the genre on the small screen. For every small-screen superhero success story like Smallville, there are countless failed pilots, canceled TV shows, and superhero projects that simply did not work. While readers might point to Prime Video’s five-season hit The Boys as a daring screen adaptation of a dark superhero comic book, Netflix’s expensive folly Jupiter’s Legacy proved this formula wasn’t guaranteed to succeed.
Throughout its existence as a streaming service, Netflix has made many other attempts to cash in on the popularity of superhero shows, and some have been modern classics. Others have been tragically misguided, while still others started out strong and ended up falling apart later in their run. This was the fate that befell one 2019 series that, oddly enough, starred the leading man from an earlier superhero cult hit with a great start and a weak ending.
2019’s The Umbrella Academy was based on the comic book series of the same name by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, and starred Misfits leading man Robert Sheehan, Elliot Page, Emmy Rave-Lampman, Mary J. Blige, Genesis Rodriguez, and Yusuf Gatewood among others. This large ensemble cast played a dysfunctional family of mismatched superhero siblings who must band together to prevent the end of the world after reuniting due to the death of their eccentric adopted father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves.
The Umbrella Academy’s Debut Season Was A Near-Faultless Hit
The season 1 setup of The Umbrella Academy is bizarre, quirky, and seemed liable to collapse under the weight of its own colorful ambition. The show introduced viewers to the six members of the titular superhero team: Luther, Diego, Vanya, Ben, Allison, and Klaus. By the time they are reunited, Luther is a part ape, part man living on the moon, Diego is a vigilante, Allison is an actor, Ben is a ghost, Vanya is a musician, and Klaus is a struggling drug addict who can still speak to Ben.
This motley crew barely seems able to get along with each other, but they fare unexpectedly well when they are forced to save the world from apocalyptic destruction. While some critics were bemused by the show’s blend of dark sci-fi twists worthy of Black Mirror with a more colorful and playful aesthetic, The Umbrella Academy’s unique tonal mix won over a large fan base.
The Umbrella Academy’s Season 2 Was Even Better
In a rare coup, the show’s second outing was more of a success with critics than the first, as The Umbrella Academy began to lighten up a little and have more fun with its absurdist elements. Now that the initial character introductions and lore dumping were out of the way, the superhero show had a chance to revel in its sillier side, making season 2 a marked improvement on an already-strong first outing.
While The Umbrella Academy season 3 wasn’t quite as strong as season 2, it was just as enjoyable as the first season, once again expanding its fictional world and doubling down on the show’s ambitious exploration of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and comedy. Sadly, the fourth and final season of the series was where things truly fell apart, with the delicate tonal balance that had always confused critics finally struggling with audiences.
Although it was almost inevitable that The Umbrella Academy’s bizarre tonal mélange couldn’t last forever, the show did an admirable job of balancing believable character drama with its bizarre, cartoonish world throughout its first three outings. With a strong start and an even better sophomore outing, The Umbrella Academy deserves credit for being one of Netflix’s more successful and daring experiments in the stuffed superhero genre.
- Release Date
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2019 – 2024-00-00
- Showrunner
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Steve Blackman
- Directors
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Jeremy Webb
- Writers
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Steve Blackman
- Franchise(s)
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The Umbrella Academy