By now, you’ve probably heard of the Netflix show released a couple weeks ago, The Umbrella Academy. The show is based on the comic book series created by Gerard Way, the lead vocalist of the punk rock band, My Chemical Romance. Hence, you can already get a sense of the strangely brilliant mind behind this story.
Heads up – everything I mention about The Umbrella Academy is in the trailers, so there are no spoilers.
The first episode begins in 1989. 43 not pregnant women unexpectedly give birth. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, billionaire, offers a large sum of money to the confused mothers in exchange for their babies. He ends up with seven of children.
Flash forward x years and the seven adopted children are now adults gifted with supernatural powers dealing with the recent death of their abusive father.
This is a very slimmed down synopsis. There are so many intriguing elements in The Umbrella Academy that I highly recommend watching it.
Basically, they’re misfits that need to learn to cooperate with their dysfunctional family. Each character has their own captivating story and inner conflicts to overcome. Each character is funny in their own way, deeply relatable, absolutely crazy yet equally lovable. Robert Sheehan who plays Klaus Hargreeves did an incredible job keeping the audience entertained while watching him slowly overcome his haunting superpower of seeing ghosts, which lead to his addition of anything that will get him high.
The action is also amazing because the superpowers are simple but used to their greatest advantage. Additionally, the soundtrack has amazing variety from the 1950s up to 2018 – with scenes that pair well with each song.
There’s a lot of discussion about the differences between the show and the comic book series. I won’t mention the details Netflix changed since they are spoilers. However, I personally think the changes they made were rational choices that furthered the audience’s curiosity about the seven unusual superheroes. I got hooked in the first ten minutes and cannot wait for the second season!
Post by: Brooklyn Harker
