Georgia Humphreys
IT’S the Sixties in Dallas, Texas, and the Hargreeves siblings are scattered in time, over a three-year period.
That’s the setting for series two of The Umbrella Academy, the quirky Netflix superhero show based on the comic book series of the same name.
The premise of the show is that on one day in 1989, 43 infants were mysteriously born to women who showed no signs they were pregnant. Seven of these babies were adopted by a billionaire named
Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who trains the children at the Umbrella Academy in the hope that, one day, their superpowers will save the world.
For anyone not in the know, Klaus (Robert Sheehan) can see and talk to the dead; Luther has super-strength and durability; Diego (David Castañeda) can throw any object with deadly accuracy; Allison (Emmy RaverLampman) can control minds; Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) can jump through time and Vanya (Ellen Page) has telekinetic abilities. There was also Ben, however he was killed before the events of series one.
We can expect some developments when it comes to the character of
Klaus, says Irishman Robert Sheehan.
The 32-year-old star, also known for E4 hit series Misfits, and film Mortal Engines, says of the super siblings: “They’ve been raised and nurtured at such a remove from normality, they just have each other in this little abnormal pool.
“The challenge for them is to have some semblance of normal life.”
When Sir Reginald died, his clan reunited and worked together to solve the mystery behind his death, only to face the threat of a global apocalypse, which Five managed to help his family escape, using his powers.
In series two, we see the impact of that. Five warned it was risky, and indeed, now they’ve all ended up in different periods of time (starting in 1960).
Some of the siblings have been stuck in the past for years, and have built lives for themselves, while the last to land is Five – bang in the middle of doomsday.
Over the 10 new episodes, we will see the Umbrella Academy attempting to reunite, stop doomsday and get back to the present.
One word often used to describe this show is “weird”, a description Tom Hopper (Luther), embraces.
“Weird stands out, doesn’t it?” enthuses the Leicestershire-born star, 35, who has also appeared in TV’s Black Sails and Merlin.
“If it’s not been done 100 times before, then it’s something that people could relate to in a different way,” Robert points out. “Weird is just a new normal that hasn’t arrived yet.”
The last few months have been a turbulent time, not only with the catastrophic impact of coronavirus around the world, but also the Black Lives Matter movement, and political unrest.
Were the pair aware of parallels between the
Back row: themes and events explored in The Umbrella Academy and real life?
“What it brought to life for me, especially looking at it now and looking at what’s about to come out in the show, it’s like we knew those problems are all there; they’re all underlying problems in the world,” says Tom.
“They’re just waiting to come out of the woodwork, and it takes a big moment, like we’ve experienced this year, for it to see the light of day.”
■ The Umbrella Academy, season two, launches on Netflix on Friday, July 31