Umbrella Academy Season 3 - What We Know So Far
The following contains spoilers for Netflix' The Umbrella Academy season 2.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 handily exceeded the massive expectations set by season 1. After we witnessed the Hargreeves siblings navigate the sophomore season's stunning array of 1960s secrets, surprises, and time travel shenanigans, the action-packed finale left us with a cliffhanger that has us itching for more. The season ended with Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Five (Aidan Gallagher), and Vanya (Ellen Page) finally returning to their own time ... or so they thought. They soon found themselves staring at Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), along with their supposedly dead adopted sibling, Ben (Justin H. Min), and a completely new team called the Sparrow Academy. As the siblings realized they've changed history and uttered their final, stunned profanities, viewers were tempted to do the same, knowing we'd have to wait until season 3 to find out what happens next.
With that in mind, we have a lot of unanswered questions about the status and nature of the (hopefully) upcoming next season of the show. Here's what we know about The Umbrella Academy season 3.
What's the release date of Umbrella Academy season 3?
At the time of writing, Netflix hasn't renewed The Umbrella Academy for season 3, but there's no reason to worry quite yet. Both reviews and audience scores for season 2 were excellent, and Netflix has been known to sit on the renewals of their hit shows for a while. For instance, the third season of Stranger Things dropped on July 4, 2019, but Netflix didn't announce the show's renewal for season 4 until September 30 of that same year. Besides, Tom Hopper has told NME that the actors, at the very least, are operating under the assumption that the story will continue. "We assume that we're going to until we're told we're not," the actor says, "Because we like to keep the characters alive in our heads and what could be possible."
Until we get official news of renewal, the potential season 3 release date is anyone's guess. We do know, however, that the first season was released on February 15, 2019, and the second one on July 31, 2020. Assuming that Netflix will do the obvious thing and give its hit show a third season, and that the pandemic doesn't hit the production schedule too hard, this means you can likely expect The Umbrella Academy season 3 in early 2022.
Who's in the cast of Umbrella Academy season 3?
Though The Umbrella Academy season 2 had a significantly high body count, the Hargreeves siblings actually managed to come out more alive than usual, thanks to the ghostly Ben's return to the land of the living as an altered timeline version of himself. As such, it's virtually guaranteed that Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, and Ellen Page will return to reprise the respective roles of Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben, and Vanya. Colm Feore will likely also return as their abusive adopted father Sir Reginald, and the show's new timeline means that his trusty ape assistant Pogo (Ken Hall/Adam Godley) might also make an appearance, even though he technically died in season 1.
As for the non-Hargreeves cast, the show's timey-wimey nature makes it abundantly clear that almost anyone can potentially return. The most likely familiar face to appear in season 3 would probably be the Academy's fellow October 1, 1989 super-baby Lila (Ritu Arya), who went rogue in the season 2 finale. The revelation of his superpowers mean that Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly) could very well return in one way or another, which also bodes well for the chances of seeing his mother, Sissy (Marin Ireland), again. On a more speculative note, The Handler's (Kate Walsh) story arc seems to be decidedly over, but then again, this wouldn't be the first time she's survived a supposedly fatal gunshot injury. Who knows? Maybe even Hazel (Cameron Britton) and Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) are alive and operational in the new timeline.
As always, season 3 will also presumably bring us several new, interesting characters, so expect plenty of exciting news on The Umbrella Academy casting front.
What's the plot of The Umbrella Academy season 3?
The inaugural season of The Umbrella Academy took its general plot from the first series of the Dark Horse comic, The Apocalypse Suite, and season 2 loosely adapted the second series, Dallas. Knowing this, there's a chance that season 3 will take its beats from the third series, Hotel Oblivion, or possibly the upcoming fourth volume, Sparrow Academy.
Hotel Oblivion sees the Hargreeves once again split and embark on a series of strange journeys, while a group of powerful villains tries to escape a creepy off-world prison in which Sir Reginald secretly trapped them. Before the inevitable showdown against the baddies, Luther and Diego explore a trippy region of space, Allison and Five team up for a strange vigilante mission, Klaus has a drug-fueled, Breaking Bad-style adventure, and Vanya gravitates toward a strange, new group called the Sparrow Academy.
Regardless of which parts of this plot season 3 will adapt (if any), season 2 revealed that we'll definitely see more of the mysterious Sparrow Academy. While they haven't featured all that prominently in the comics yet, we do know that they appear to be a more functional version of their Umbrella counterparts. In Hotel Oblivion, their Number 1 is basically Luther without the ape body (Though Ben seems to occupy this role in the show). There's also one member who appears to have persuasive, voice-themed powers not dissimilar to Allison's, as well as one who can release a blast of energy from their face. There's also a deformed character whose disturbing power is to pass self-inflicted pain onto others, as well as a floating cube, for some reason. Since the show added the tentacle-powered Ben in the mix, it sure looks like the Hargreeves are up against the challenge of their lives.
The Umbrella Academy season 3 will go beyond the comics
Though the first two seasons of The Umbrella Academy kept the rough plot outline of the first two comic arcs, they also brought us many twists that couldn't be predicted by reading the source material. The same likely applies to the possible season 3, though it's probably safe to assume that the many unanswered questions with which season 2 left us will feature quite heavily.
With Sir Reginald Hargreeves firmly alive, season 3 might finally delve deeper into his many mysteries, including his alien nature and his strange interest in the dark side of the moon. What's more, by introducing us to Lila and the Sparrow Academy, the show made it clear that it's more than prepared to start exploring the fate of the many, presumably superpowered October 1, 1989 babies who never made it to the original Umbrella Academy. The show's finale also showed that the Hargreeves themselves appear to be growing stronger, as demonstrated by Vanya's increased control over her destructive powers, Diego's bullet manipulation, and Five's newfound ability to perform smaller, more controlled time-jumps.
It will also be interesting to see just how much the Hargreeves siblings' stint in the 1960s has influenced the present day. Apart from the whole "Ben's alive and there's a 'Sparrow Academy'" thing, the aforementioned Sissy and Harlan were left in the past with knowledge of the Umbrella Academy (and Harlan's superpowers), as was Allison's husband Raymond (Yusuf Gatewood). Has this impacted history? Another, potentially ominous portent is the fact that, though Klaus left his cult behind, they remained active — and the dangerous Axel (Kris Holden-Ried), the sole surviving Swede assassin, ended up joining them. Regardless of what will happen in The Umbrella Academy season 3, one thing is certain: The fans will be in for a ride of their life.