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12 questions The Umbrella Academy Season 2 needs to answer
Rumors have been swirling about a potential second season for Netflix’s breakout new superhero show The Umbrella Academy since its premiere.
You can’t blame fans for being antsy, seeing as how the show’s season finale ends on a pretty hefty cliffhanger. Showrunner Steve Blackman told SYFY WIRE he’s got plenty of ideas for future seasons, which is now especially helpful given that Netflix renewed The Umbrella Academy for Season 2 on April 2.
**Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Netflix's renewing The Umbrella Academy for Season 2.**
Until we get to see the results, though, here are 12 of the biggest questions we’re left with after Season 1 of the addictive new superhero show.
**Spoiler Warning: It should go without saying, but just in case... spoilers ahead for The Umbrella Academy Season 1.**
Where, and when, did the Hargreeves kids travel back to?
The season finale ends with the Hargreeves’ resident time-traveler, Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), taking the entire family back in time in order to give them a second chance at stopping the apocalypse (or, technically, is it their third chance?). If they’re just jumping back to the beginning of Season 1, aka eight days earlier, that could give audiences a serious case of déjà vu. If not, how far back could they potentially go?
Will they show up as their adult selves, or as kids?
Thanks to a serious miscalculation, the first time Five travels back to prevent the apocalypse, he shows up in his 13-year-old body (despite being 58 when he made the jump). Which raises the question: is the same thing going to happen to the rest of the family? The season finale teases us with a brief shot of Numbers One through Seven as teenagers right before they jump.
Any potential de-aging could give the Hargreeves a second shot at the childhood they never had, but it would also sideline one of the series’ strongest selling points: its excellent ensemble cast. That makes it extremely unlikely The Umbrella Academy would do an entire second season with just the show’s younger actors. …Right? It all hinges on whether Five double-checked his math this time around.
Is Cha-Cha still alive?
We already know her ex-partner Hazel (Cameron Britton) was able to escape the apocalypse with his new girlfriend (Sheila McCarthy) in the nick of time, traveling back to some as-yet-to-be-determined era. Last we see of Mary J. Blige’s Cha-Cha however, she was being incinerated trying to make a collect call — which is about as clear-cut of an ending as it gets. Unless…
If Five’s able to successfully reset the timeline, it stands to reason that the fan favorite Cha-Cha could possibly return to the show; an outcome Blige herself is personally pulling for. Still, it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops the last time Hazel and Cha-Cha saw each other, which could make for a potentially awkward reunion. But just because the world ended doesn’t necessarily mean the end for your favorite characters (including Pogo).
What happens to Vanya?
The major twist of The Umbrella Academy Season 1 isn’t just that Ellen Page’s Vanya has powers — it’s that she ends up being so powerful, she causes the apocalypse in the first place.
In the comics, Vanya (aka the White Violin) suffers serious brain damage as a result of being shot in the head by one of her siblings. The series doesn’t go quite that dark – one of the many alterations Blackman made to Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s graphic novels — and in the show, saving Vanya is as much of a motivating factor for the family going back in time as saving the world. If there is a Season 2, whatever direction the show’s writing staff decides to take with Vanya will likely drive the entire season arc.
How did Ben die?
We’re told early on that the death of Ben, aka Number Six, is the reason the family ultimately disbanded, and we can assume that Ben died as an adult, since his decidedly-grownup ghost (played by Justin H. Min) appears to Klaus (Robert Sheehan) throughout the season. Beyond that though, the circumstances surrounding his death are still anyone’s guess.
Will we ever see the other 36 children?
It’s one of The Umbrella Academy’s most intriguing elements: the premise that one fateful day in October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth, despite the fact that none of them had been pregnant mere hours earlier. Colm Feore’s Sir Reginald Hargreeves was able to acquire (read as: purchase) seven of these children. But what about the other 36?
Who – or what – is Sir Reginald Hargreeves? And what was he up to?
For most of the series, the Hargreeves’ adoptive father is an enigma. We know he’s distant at best to his seven children, and at worst, borderline abusive. That’s about all we learn though. That is, until the season finale, when it’s revealed that the eccentric billionaire isn’t of this Earth. Wait, what?
Fans of the comics already know that the monocled patriarch is an alien, but there’s plenty more backstory where that came from, showrunner Steve Blackman told SYFY WIRE. “If we move on to other seasons, if we're lucky, you’ll see there’s more layers to Reginald,” he promises. “I wanted us to think early on he was just a harsh father. But we're going to find out there's a lot more to who Reginald Hargreeves is, and what his plan was.”
Will Allison and Luther, or won’t they?
Umbrella Academy fans seem divided over whether to cheer for or against Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) and Luther (Tom Hopper) finally making good on their childhood crush. Their long-awaited first kiss was erased from existence when Five first reset the timeline in Episode 6, but the show’s most complicated couple share a phonebooth and another emotionally-charged moment in the season finale, leaving their relationship frustratingly unresolved.
Has Allison lost her voice for good?
It’s hard to profess your love for someone if you can’t speak. It’s also hard for Allison to use her special, Kilgrave-esque powers, something she was already extremely conflicted about to begin with this season.
Can Klaus bring anyone back from the dead, or just Ben?
One of the season’s bigger surprises isn’t just that Robert Sheehan’s Klaus can commune with the dead, but that – at least in the case of his adopted brother Ben – he can also temporarily resurrect them. It’s not just a neat party trick, either, coming in handy during the finale’s climactic firefight. Klaus is just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential, and it’d be interesting to see what else he can do now that he’s finally sober. (Provided he’s able to stay sober, of course.)
Will there be more dancing?
The cast gave SYFY WIRE their picks for a potential Season 2 soundtrack, and here’s hoping there’s at least one more family dance party in the Hargreeves’ future. For David Castañeda’s sake, and ours.
When are we getting a Season 2?
Because otherwise, the rest of these questions are pretty much moot.
