The Umbrella Academy: What Are Main Differences From the Original Comic Book?

With Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy just around the corner, we decided to compare the show's story to the original comic of the same name and refresh our memories on the plot of the first three seasons.

On October 1, 1989, in various countries around the world, 43 random women began giving birth. These babies were unwanted, at least because their mothers never were pregnant. And the reason for this population explosion was the actions of Reginald Hargreeves, whose goal was to save his dying wife and the universe.

To do this, he found and adopted seven children who were destined to become members of his elite Umbrella Academy – Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben, and Vanya.

At the very beginning, we learn that Ben died many years ago, and Vanya is an ordinary girl with no powers. In fact, her power is so enormous and destructive that it literally leads to the end of the world at the end of the first season.

Reginald was afraid of Vanya's uncontrollable power, so he said that she was born without talents. He also got her hooked on drugs that blocked her superpowers.

The Umbrella Academy Members' Superpowers Are Different in the Comic

According to the canon, the children's powers are slightly different. For example, Diego cannot throw objects but can breathe underwater, hence the nickname – The Kraken. Klaus is also different – in the comics he has telekinesis and even flies, but his abilities do not work while he is wearing shoes. There is a nod to this in the show – in all three seasons, he is almost always barefoot.

The show also exaggerated Vanya's powers a bit, making her an even more multifaceted character.

In the comics, she becomes a violinist in a cult that dreams of destroying the world. The conductor, whose on-screen role was taken over by Vanya's friend Leonard, awakens her powers and offers to destroy the world – and they almost succeed.

The comic ends completely differently from the series – there is no jump to the past. Five shoots Vanya, and Klaus saves everyone from the falling moon with his telekinesis. Vanya is left not only without memory, but also completely paralyzed, and does not participate in further events.

Season 2 Differs Significantly from the Comic

The second season is even more different from the comic, which is almost entirely dedicated to preventing the assassination of Kennedy. In the series, the characters manage to organize a cult, visit a mental hospital, save a few lives and prevent another end of the world.

Then, Vanya brings a child back to life. The kid gets some of her power and in the future kills the mothers of all the members of the academy, completely changing reality and erasing them from history.

Hotel Oblivion Has a Different Function in the Original Source

This is where the third season begins – the characters find themselves in a world where they do not exist, and encounter the Sparrow Academy in the place of their home. There, seven new Hargreeves siblings await them, led by Ben.

Another surprise of the third season is that Vanya becomes Viktor, after Elliot Page himself. Klaus' abilities are revealed from a new side – we learn that he is not just a lucky guy who has avoided death all these seasons, but is literally immortal.

The plots of the series and the comics are generally quite different, although the same hotel Oblivion appears in both. In the comics, it is created as bait for beings from other dimensions. In the series, the building becomes a refuge for siblings, and instead of prisoners, they find deadly guards.

With the combined efforts of the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies, the universe is finally rebooted, and the characters find themselves in a cozy garden named after their father in a perfectly normal world.

The dead are resurrected, severed hands grow back, wounds heal. But there's one thing – the siblings lose their superpowers and become ordinary people.