Former child superheroes! Talking chimpanzees! Quirky assassins! It can only be one show.
Based on the hit indie comic book series by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy exploded onto our screens with emotional stakes, high-octane action and its irreverence for traditional superhero fare.
Starring Academy-Award nominee Ellen Page and Grammy winner Mary J. Blige, The Umbrella Academy revolves around the escapades of a dysfunctional family of adopted siblings who all just so happen to have superpowers. Made to don matching uniforms and fight the forces of evil by their father/benefactor, the children become known across the world as the titular Umbrella Academy. Fast-forward to adulthood and the family must put aside their differences and work together to solve the mystery of their father’s murder.
Released in February 2019, the show’s first season was a hit on the streaming service with an estimated 45 million households tuning in to the dark comedy-drama, according to Netflix. If you’re preparing your ‘to binge’ list for 2020, you might wanna make an addition. Here’s everything we know so far about The Umbrella Academy season 2.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 release date: when is the superhero series returning to Netflix?
Netflix have confirmed that the second season of The Umbrella Academy will hit the site on July 31, revealing the news with clips of the cast dancing while in lockdown.
On October 1, 1989 seven extraordinary humans were born. On July 31, 2020, they return. pic.twitter.com/tlJQoxt9Ho
— Umbrella Academy (@UmbrellaAcad) May 18, 2020
They previously announced the second season in April 2019 with no official release date attached at the time. The show posted a teaser trailer featuring a clip from the first season’s final scene with the ominous caption, Season 2 is coming, added at the end.
Hello.
Season 2.
Goodbye. pic.twitter.com/0P5VRQlP1j
— Umbrella Academy (@UmbrellaAcad) April 2, 2019
Production wrapped in November 2019. Showrunner Steve Blackman celebrated his cast and crew on Instagram, captioning the post: “It’s a WRAP on season two of The Umbrella Academy. What an amazing cast and crew!!!”
Amid the Covid-19 crisis, Blackman shared another update: “Even #corona can’t stop an Umbrella Academy Mix,” he wrote. “But I swear we’re washing our hands…”
Netflix had already teased the upcoming second season in a series of trippy new character posters on February 19.
In a series of new tweets, which you can view below, the first one introduced the upcoming season as a whole and the “messy” role that time travel will play in the plot. “This time travel thing? It gets messy,” the tweet teased. “The cast of Umbrella Academy is back for Season 2!” it continued.
On May 28, a series new posters were revealed which you can view below:
The new posters, which features the Hargreaves family in front of black spirals with their faces masked by a black umbrella, gives hints about the siblings and where they ended up.
A few things immediately caught the attention of eagle-eyed fans. Firstly, and most obviously, the order in which the photos were released is peculiar.
As fans of the show will know, each sibling is given a specific number: Number 1 through Number 7. The socials however, did not post the siblings in numerical order. Instead, the siblings were placed in the following order: Number 6, Number 4, Number 3, Number 1, Number 2, Number 7, and Number 5.
My theory: since they posted pictures of the Hargreeves today in this order – 6, 4, 3, 1, 2, 7, 5 – and in their last post before this post they are talking about posting their travel composites tomorrow which is today on where/when might they traveled back in time. (1/2)
— Charles Villarosa (@chrlshrly) May 28, 2020
Another curious thing about the photos is that Number 5 has blood on his face and we also get Number 4 (“Klaus”) with a great wardrobe upgrade and Number 2 (“Diego”) is sporting long hair and isn’t wearing his super suit.
Fans also think the outfit choices allude to which decade they’ll be in and many are guessing the 1960s or 1970s.
This time travel thing? It gets messy. The cast of Umbrella Academy is back for Season 2! pic.twitter.com/qTnlTjeteB
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) February 19, 2020
The Umbrella Academy season 2 trailer: is there a teaser yet?
Yes! Feast your eyes on the new trailer:
Same weird family. New weird problems. The Umbrella Academy returns on July 31. pic.twitter.com/0XNubwyLMz
— Umbrella Academy (@UmbrellaAcad) July 8, 2020
There has also been a first look at stills from the second season, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 cast: who is returning to the academy?
The majority of season one’s class will be returning for a sophomore year, with a couple of new additions.
According to Variety, three new characters will be joining the class. Ritu Arya, from Channel 4’s Humans, is set to play Lila, “ a chameleon’ with a twisted sense of humour who can be as brilliant or insane as the mission requires”. Yusuf Gatewood, from Good Omens fame, will be playing “born leader and devoted husband” Raymond, while stage actress Marin Ireland will play Sissy, “a fearless, no-nonsense mum from Texas”.
Page and Blige return to their respective roles of the meek, and apparently powerless, Vanya and the formidable Cha-Cha. Game of Thrones’ Tom Hopper reprises his role as the super-strong Luther; alongside his mind-controlling sister, Allison, played by Emmy Raver-Lampman and David Castañeda’s knife-throwing Diego. Misfits’ Robert Sheehan returns as family black sheep Klaus, with Adrian Gallagher back as fan-favourite Number 5.
In an interview with Den of Geek, Page spoke of her excitement about returning to the role of Vanya after the events of season one.
‘‘For me, it’s going be so interesting to explore Vanya. It’s like Vanya 2.0 – less repressed and what does that mean in the good ways and bad kinda thing.’’ the Juno star said.
How many seasons of The Umbrella Academy will there be?
The show has plenty of source material to work from. Way, alongside artist Gabriel Bá, are on the third volume of The Umbrella Academy comic book, with the first volume providing the inspiration for the show’s first season.
In an interview with IndieWire after the shocking conclusion to the last episode, Blackman said: ‘‘I hope we get a second and third and fourth season, but I knew that having a great ending is important for Netflix as a streamer.’’
Way is working on the saga’s fourth volume, to be released after the show’s second season.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 plot: what’s going to happen in the new episodes?
In the first season’s dramatic climax, Number 5 time-travelled his family away from the Armageddon awaiting Earth, caused by a now super-powered and distraught Vanya. Furious over her family’s lies and unable to control her powers, Vanya eventually causes the apocalypse which Number 5 has been trying to prevent.
The TV series has shifted gear from the plot of Way’s comic on many an occasion, particularly with the way in which the season ended. Now that the Earth is destroyed, the family broken and the time-travelling Commission hot on their tail, who knows how the gang will get out of this one?
Composer Jeff Russo shared some clues about the whereabouts of the next season, without revealing too much. In an interview with ComicBook, Russo said:
“Well, there’s definitely a big change in setting, that’s for sure,” Russo says. “And we tried not to change too much the approach of how to tell the story musically. I mean, we used a lot of really great songs in season one. We’re going to be using a lot of great songs in season two.
“There are some new characters that we’re going to be having some fun with from a score perspective and that’s always fun, coming up with new thematic ideas for new characters and how to underscore them. So there’s a lot of new and then there’s a lot of the same. It’s a lot of both, but it’s definitely a thrill ride this year.”