Far from sheltered
Kids from Umbrella Academy return — to the 1960s — to stop the apocalypse
The Umbrella Academy Streaming, Netflix
As the song goes, it never rains in southern California. But The Umbrella Academy is prepping for a stormy spell in Dallas, as the Netflix show time-travels to the 1960s in a bid to stop the apocalypse. Based on the like-named comic book series, The Umbrella Academy follows seven adopted siblings who have superpowers, with six trained as to fight crime. The seventh, Vanya (Ellen Page), thought she was ordinary until she discovered a power to convert sound into energy.
Netflix reported that 45 million households worldwide watched the show within its first month on the service, which naturally led to an order for another batch of episodes — now streaming.
Page joined series creator, executive producer and showrunner Steve Blackman remotely to speak about the new season.
Q Were you affected by the pandemic while filming season 2?
Blackman: We wrapped around the end of November. We didn’t have to worry about the production part, but our post-production was thrown out of whack.
Post is a very intimate thing, so we had to come up with creative ways of getting through it without being in a room together.
Q This season is set in the 1960s — how does that affect the overall tone of the show?
Page: Specific issues that are tackled are always relevant, and very much so right now. The civil rights movement is a huge part of the season, the experience of the queer community in the ’60s and what we’re seeing now with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Q Ellen, as an actor, how has it been playing Vanya’s transformation from meek to powerful?
Page: It was the first time I’d gotten to exist as a character for such a long amount of time. Her arc is very extreme in the first season and that was a thrill to play. And then when we find her at the beginning of the second season, Vanya’s very different in many ways. So it felt like a restart as she continues her journey.
Q Steve, did you feel pressure to stick to the storyline of the original comic books?
Blackman: Adapting any source material is a challenge, and this one had rabid fans — the graphic novel has been around 10 years.
I’m very close to (writer Gerard Way) and (illustrator Gabriel Bá). I couldn’t imagine doing an adaptation and not having the respect and blessing of the two people who created it. Early on Gerard and I realized that the TV show and graphic novel didn’t have to be carbon copies of each other to coexist. We could be different.
Q Have you given thought to season 3?
Blackman: I have a great sense of season 3. If we’re lucky enough to get a season 3, I know what it is.