‘The struggle for them is just to co-exist as a family member and save the world at the same time’

The superhero graphic novel The Umbrella Academy is now a Netflix series, says Gemma Dunn

The year is 1989. At the 12th hour of the first day of October, 43 women around the world suddenly find themselves nine-months pregnant and immediately give birth.

Piquing the interest of an eccentric billionaire, seven of the babies are adopted. But this isn’t your regular family portrait. Each harbouring extraordinary abilities, the children form a superhero gang, destined to fight evil.

An inexplicable phenomenon, maybe. But it’s this turn of events that sets the scene for Netflix’s latest original series, the highly anticipated Umbrella Academy.

Power-charged with action, the family drama – based on the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Ba – will be told in 10 episodes, each adapted by Fargo producer Steve Blackman.

The project first came to the Canadian-american around the time he was finishing up with sci-fi hit, Altered Carbon.

“I really wanted to stay with Netflix,” says Blackman, who went on to serve as a showrunner on the epic new series.

“To me, these are very grounded characters, they’re a family,” he adds. “The fact that they have some abilities is, to me, secondary. It’s a dysfunctional family show with a body count.”

Once adopted, the children soon come to realise they pose more of a scientific interest to entrepreneur Hargreeves (played by House Of Cards’ Colm Feore).

Assigned numbers – and later names by Grace, the robot they call mom – the super-dysfunctional superheroes become known as Number 1/Luther; Number 2/Diego; Number 3/Allison; Number 4/Klaus; Number 6/ Ben; Number 7/Vanya. The fifth child is known as simply “Number 5’’.

While numbers 1-6 spend their time training in order to form the academy, and their skills range from performing mind tricks to jumping through space and time,

0 The Umbrella Academy is ‘a family show with a body count’

Number 7/Vanya finds herself excluded from the action.

“Hargreeves’ goal was to create a special force of children that could one day save the world,” explains Blackman. “And it worked for a while. They were very successful when they were 12, as a force against evil.”

However, tragedy strikes when in their teens, one of the children finds themselves stuck in the future; and another dies during a mission. Shrouded in sadness, The Umbrella Academy disbands – and the siblings split.

Fast forward 17 years, and with Hargreeves dead (and a question mark over whether it was due to natural causes), the estranged siblings reunite at their childhood home.

But can they put tensions aside and work as a family again? Because they need each other. And more importantly, the world needs them.

“One of my favourite scenes from the pilot is early on, when they’re just sitting in a room together and no one’s saying a word,” Blackman says of their homecoming.

“It’s just that relatable, awkward moment when you’re estranged from a family member,” he follows. “I didn’t want them to come together and say, ‘OK, now we’re a family, let’s go fight bad guys.’ That’s not what this show is.

“The struggle for them is just to co-exist as a family member and be in the same room together – and, by the way, save the world at the same time.”

Number 1/Luther, played by Tom Hopper, has had

superhuman strength since birth and has been living on the moon for several years.

Number 2/Diego (David Castaneda) is an after-dark vigilante and quite the dab hand at throwing knives and breaking the laws of physics. “He has a chip on his shoulder that he can’t be Number 1,” admits Castaneda.

Number 3/Allison (Emmy Raver-lampman) is a recently divorced movie star, who having lost custody of her daughter, has come to realise her superpower – to bend anyone to her way of thinking – isn’t always what it’s cut out to be.

Number 4/Klaus (Sheehan) can communicate with the afterlife – but only when he’s sober, which is a rarity. “He’s this tortured character who tries to keep the party going 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Sheehan explains.

Number 5/Five, helmed by Aidan Gallagher, returns to the fold after 17 years in the body of his 13-yearold self, but with the mind of a 58-year-old man. He’s terrified by what he saw in the future: a world in which humanity is wiped out.

Number 6/Ben (Justin Min) could unleash monsters from other dimensions when he was alive. Now Klaus is the “emissary for Ben on earth”, Min explains. Not that his siblings know it.

Number 7/Vanya is portrayed by Ellen Page. The black sheep of the family, “Vanya has grown up in the household feeling very ostracised and left out,” says Page.

Two other key characters to look out for are Hazel and Cha-cha, played by Cameron Britton and Mary J Blige respectively.

“The fact that they have some abilities is, to me, secondary”

● The Umbrella Academy premieres on Netflix today