How Ben Should Really Look In The Umbrella Academy
As a ghost that only Klaus (Robert Sheehan) can see, Ben Hargreeves (Justin H. Min) fulfills a unique role in the television adaptation of The Umbrella Academy. Having died, Ben is limited by many unknown factors. He appears in the same outfit each time, and at first glance, it appears that he can't interact with the world beyond his adopted brother, whose special ability to speak with the dead allows this connection to exist.
Every Hargreeves sibling has their own unique power, and Ben's definitely stands out. He can release Eldritch creatures by using his body as a portal to their dimension, centered around his stomach area. It makes Ben a very powerful entity, but one limited by his status as a ghost. Over the course of the show's first season, Klaus' strength grows, and likewise, Ben's connection to the physical realm grows stronger and stronger until he's able to push his other brother Diego (David Castañeda) out of the way of falling debris and use his ability to help his family fight off assassins.
In the Umbrella Academy comics, Ben has a much smaller presence. His death hangs gloomily over his siblings at every moment, but it's not spoken of until The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #5. That issue sees the ghost of Ben make an appearance to Klaus, saving him from an overdose and giving him a message.
While fans of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy have grown accustomed to Min's handsome face as Ben, aka Number Six, it turns out that his comic counterpart isn't quite as pretty.
Ben's death leaves him withered, a husk of his old self
In the following issue of the graphic novel, The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #6, Ben watches over Klaus as he recovers in a hospital bed. As he warns his brother against wasting his abilities, with "all that potential cast aside," the real horror of what Ben has become is visible. Instead of appearing as a pristine and healthy-looking adult like he does on the Netflix series, the comic version of Ben looks decomposed and barely staying together. He wears his old superhero costume, now in tatters, and his stomach is on full display — a gaping hole where the portal used to exist. Since the truth of Ben's death is still unknown, both in the comics and the television adaptation, it's unclear whether this is a result of how he died or simply what happens in the afterlife.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the show's Ben looks much like he did when he was alive — wearing the same hoodie, jeans, and leather jacket the whole time. When Klaus uses his ability to speak to the dead, he normally sees them in the state that they died in. Now, Ben's certainly a special case, choosing to stay with Klaus and his siblings instead of moving on, so this might factor into his state of appearance. Either way, we've never seen this corpse-like version of Ben — and we likely won't, as the finale of season 2 gives the character a hard reset.