Opinion

What I Thought Of The Umbrella Academy

I’ve been a massive fan of Gerard Way for most of my life, both as the frontman of my favourite band, and as a comic book writer. I’ve been waiting to see the Umbrella Academy on screen since I was at least 16, and it’s finally here! I re-read Apocalypse Suite, and Dallas before the show dropped on Netflix so I’d have a fresh idea of what the series is about. Here’s what I thought of the Umbrella Academy adaption on Netflix.

The Plot

title cover of the umbrella academy by gerard way and gabriel ba

When 43 children are spontaneously born to women who weren’t pregnant, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, aka The Monocle, tracks down and adopts six of them. After his death, the kids are reunited.

The comics feel like a grittier version of X-Men, with a little Back to the Future, and I was curious to see how that would translate onto the screen. The great thing about the Umbrella Academy is that although it has concepts from other stories like I mentioned, it manages to be very unique is very much it’s own thing – if you were excepting an X-Men rip off you’re mistaken.

The first volume, Apocalypse Suite sees the Umbrella Academy try save the world from ending. While, the second volume, Dallas focuses more on time-travel and 5’s life in the apocalypse, which now effect his siblings. Netflix basically took the best from both volumes to create season 1. They also put their own spin on the plot. I’m concerned about what this means for season 2. I’d imagine they’ll have to take inspiration for the new third volume; Hotel Oblivion.

The Netflix Version

title cover of the umbrella academy issue one of hotel oblivion titled evil

I was worried I’d hyped the show up so much that it wouldn’t live up to my expectation but it exceeded it.

Each episode is an hour long and they fly by because they’re so captivating.

Adapting a comic to TV means some changes. Normally I get a bit picky when things are unnecessarily changed when books are adapted into movies, but any deviations from the comics worked well.

They dropped the superhero names so they all go by their number or first name. For example in the comics its; Number One, AKA Luther, AKA Space Boy. It would be too confused to keep that format in the show. However, they do reference it when Allison’s daughter calls Luther “Space Boy”.

Some characters who were difficult to like in the comics, like Diego, are much more likeable in the show, in fact Diego reminded me of Dean Winchester in this which is probably why I liked him so much. Klaus was my favourite character in the books, and he somehow managed to be even better in the show, I never imagined Robert Sheehan playing him when I read them but he’s absolutely perfect. They also could not have cast a better Five, Aiden Gallagher couldn’t have portrayed him more accurately.

I wondered how the tone would come across or if characters like Pogo or Luther would look stupid, but they look great.

The soundtrack is amazing, as are the visuals, it’s like a character of it’s own. The songs feel random and quirky, but they suit it so well. Gerard Way’s version of Hazy Shade of Winter is Amazing, as is Happy Together. We also got jams like Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, and Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now. Furthemore, the score is overlooked. They got Lindsey Stirling to cover the Phantom of the Opera and it’s amazing. The score compliments the mood so well. As well as that, Vanya’s orchestra is amazing.

Final Thoughts On The Umbrella Academy

The comics are quite white-washed and hetero-normative. I think it was a welcome change to diversify the Academy. T

There are things that I’d love to talk about but I don’t want to spoil the show or comics, so go ahead and enjoy both! Overall, I’m absolutely mind blown. Normally I try to find something to critique but I’m lost this time – it’s amazing!

Check out what I thought of the Hotel Oblivion comics, and these books written by rock stars.

19 thoughts on “What I Thought Of The Umbrella Academy

  1. I watch the Umbrella academy in one weekend and absolutely loved it, although I was a bit disappointed in the end and the treatment of number 7. I feel like we fall into the powerful woman’s trope that needs to hide her power (or have a man conceal them) to protect herself because a man can’t be bothered teaching her or is afraid of her… which makes it sounds like women and power together are the worst combination either. like when the siblings are like “we need to fix her”. No, you need to teach her. So i hope they correct that in season 2

    1. And also Allison’s power is portrayed as manipulative, and Grace being the embodiement of a 1950s housewife, I’m hoping they built all the negative tropes associating with women to break them down in season 2. Otherwise I’ll be disappointed

  2. Oh, these types of posts make me so sad because this sounds like such an amazing show but we don’t have Netflix! I know I’m missing out but I have still to persuade my husband to fork out, haha. I’m glad you’ve found something you enjoy this much though, that’s wonderful 🙂

    Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com

  3. Thank you for sharing this review! I haven’t read them (although I loved Gerard Way from my MYC days – goodness, so much nostalgia) but I’ve been contemplating the series for a few days now. I started watching it earlier and got about 20 minutes in but then had stuff to do. But I did enjoy what I watched so far so definitely think I’ll continue. Robert Sheehan does it for me in this series! I absolutely ADORE him!

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

  4. I keep hearing good things about this show, it’s definitely on my list to watch. I’m glad you loved it.

  5. I’ve been wavering on giving this a try for exactly the reasons you mentioned – I was worried that I had hyped it up so much that there is no way it would live up to my expectations. Maybe I should give it a try after all.

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