100 Fun Facts About The Umbrella Academy

On which streaming service did The Umbrella Academy premiere in February 2019?

Netflix released all ten episodes of the first season at once on February 15, 2019, and the show quickly became one of its most-watched originals of the year.

In the show's origin story, how many women gave birth at once at noon on October 1, 1989?

43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously at noon on October 1, 1989, none having shown any sign of pregnancy when the day began; Reginald Hargreeves adopted several of the babies.

Who wrote the comic book series the show is based on?

Gerard Way wrote the series, with Brazilian artist Gabriel Bá drawing it; the first miniseries, Apocalypse Suite, began in 2007.

Which publisher released the original Umbrella Academy comic books?

Dark Horse Comics published the first miniseries, Apocalypse Suite, from September 2007 to February 2008.

The first comic volume, Apocalypse Suite, won which prize in 2008?

An Eisner for Best Limited Series went to Apocalypse Suite in July 2008 at San Diego Comic-Con, the ceremony honouring comics published during 2007.

Which DC comic did the series' writer cite as his biggest influence on The Umbrella Academy?

Doom Patrol, specifically Grant Morrison's late-1980s run, was the book the writer pointed to; he later wrote his own Doom Patrol revival for DC's Young Animal imprint in 2016.

Who plays Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the siblings' adoptive father?

Colm Feore plays Reginald Hargreeves across all four seasons; the actor had earlier played the frost-giant king Laufey in Marvel's Thor (2011).

What is the name of the robot who acts as mother to the Hargreeves children?

Grace, played by Jordan Claire Robbins, is the android Reginald built after young Vanya's powers killed several human nannies.

Pogo, Reginald's assistant, is what kind of animal?

A chimpanzee with an enhanced intellect, Pogo was voiced by Adam Godley, with Weta Digital, the studio behind the Planet of the Apes films, building the effects.

Luther, Number One, spent four years living where on a mission from his father?

Luther spent four years alone on The Moon; back home he discovers his father never opened a single research report he sent back.

Reginald saved Luther's life after a botched mission with a serum derived from which animal?

The serum came from A gorilla: it saved Luther's life but left him with an ape's upper body, which he hides under bulky coats.

Which phrase does Allison say to activate her mind-control power?

'I heard a rumor...' is Allison's trigger: whatever she says after it comes true, and in season one she admits she rumoured her daughter Claire to sleep, which cost her custody.

Which sibling can communicate with the dead?

Klaus can see and speak with the dead; as a child Reginald locked him overnight in a mausoleum to force him to face the ghosts.

Which actor plays Number Five, the sibling stuck in a 13-year-old body?

Aidan Gallagher, a former Nickelodeon child star, plays Five; Jim Watson and Sean Sullivan portray the older Five seen in seasons one and two.

Which sibling died before the series begins and appears mostly as a ghost?

Ben, played by Justin H. Min, died on a mission as a teenager; the death is called only 'the Jennifer incident' until season four finally shows it.

Vanya's hidden power converts what into physical force?

Sound waves are Vanya's raw material: she turns ambient sound into destructive force, a power Reginald kept suppressed with daily pills for years.

Which musical instrument does Vanya play professionally?

The character's comic-book codename is the White Violin, which is also the title of the season one finale.

Which Grammy-winning singer plays the assassin Cha-Cha in season one?

Mary J. Blige, who earned two Oscar nominations for Mudbound (2017), plays the time-travelling hit-woman Cha-Cha opposite Cameron Britton's Hazel.

Hazel abandons the Commission after falling in love with Agnes, who runs what kind of business?

A doughnut shop, Griddy's Doughnuts, is Agnes's business; Five fights off a squad of Commission gunmen there in the very first episode.

Who plays The Handler, Five's former boss at the Commission?

Kate Walsh, known as Grey's Anatomy's Addison Montgomery, plays The Handler in seasons one and two; Lila is her adopted daughter.

What is the name of the mannequin Five treats as a companion in season one?

Dolores is a department-store mannequin Five found during his decades alone in the post-apocalyptic future; he carries her everywhere before returning her to a shop window late in season one.

Vanya's manipulative boyfriend Leonard Peabody is really Harold Jenkins, a man who was born when?

Harold Jenkins was born The same day as the siblings, via a normal pregnancy, so he never gained powers; Reginald publicly humiliated him as a boy when he begged to join the Academy.

Klaus's time jump in season one lands him in which war, where he falls in love with a soldier named Dave?

The Vietnam War is where the assassins' briefcase drops him in 1968; he serves ten months alongside Dave, who dies in combat before the jump home.

Which object is missing from Reginald's body after his death, making Luther suspect foul play?

His monocle was gone, which Luther read as murder; Pogo later reveals that Reginald took his own life to lure the children home.

Season two scatters the siblings across which city in the early 1960s?

Dallas, Texas is where the siblings land between 1960 and 1963; Five arrives on November 25, 1963, minutes before a nuclear doomsday, and gets ten days to prevent it.

The 1963 apocalypse in season two is linked to which historical event NOT happening?

The JFK assassination is the event that must happen: Five learns the doomsday follows a timeline where Kennedy lives, and the Frankel footage home movie shows Reginald at the motorcade holding an umbrella.

Five is hunted through season two by a trio of assassins from which country?

The trio, Axel, Otto and Oscar, are Commission assassins from Sweden; they scrawl 'Öga för öga', Swedish for 'an eye for an eye', in blood.

Which real 1960s figure employs Luther as a bodyguard in season two?

Jack Ruby, played by John Kapelos, runs the Carousel Club and employs Luther as his muscle; the real Ruby became infamous for a live-on-television shooting in November 1963.

The Handler's boss on the Commission board, A.J. Carmichael, is what?

A talking goldfish in a water-filled bowl atop a mechanical body, A.J. Carmichael heads the Commission board until The Handler swallows him whole in season two.

Lila, played by Ritu Arya, is revealed to have which power in season two?

Mirroring other people's powers is Lila's gift; she is one of the same 1989 births as the siblings, and The Handler had Five kill her parents in 1993 so she could raise the girl herself.

Season two's teaser had the cast dancing to which 1980s hit?

'I Think We're Alone Now' by Tiffany, the 1987 cover that topped the Billboard Hot 100, soundtracks the May 2020 teaser of the cast dancing, which doubled as the release-date announcement.

In season three the siblings return to 2019 to find they've been replaced by which rival team?

The Sparrow Academy is the team Reginald raised instead: after meeting the Umbrellas in 1963 and disliking them, he adopted a different set of children in 1989.

What is the universe-eating anomaly threatening existence in season three called?

A kugelblitz, a black hole formed from pure energy, is the anomaly; it arises from a grandfather paradox because the siblings' mothers all died before giving birth in the new timeline.

Which member of the alternate-timeline team falls in love with Luther and marries him?

Sloane, played by Genesis Rodriguez, controls gravity; she and Luther marry at the Hotel Obsidian in the episode titled 'Wedding at the End of the World'.

Fei, of the alternate-timeline team, is blind and sees through which animals?

Crows are Fei's eyes: the blind alternate-timeline fighter, played by Britne Oldford, can summon and see through the birds, which also serve as her spies.

Which prison did Reginald hide as a mirror-image twin of season three's hotel?

Hotel Oblivion takes its name from the third comic volume, where it is an off-world prison Reginald built for the Academy's enemies.

Which real-life event prompted the season three scripts to be revised so Vanya could come out as Viktor?

Elliot Page's transition, announced in December 2020, led the writers' room to rework the season three scripts; trans writer Thomas Page McBee was brought in to shape Viktor's coming-out.

How many episodes are in the fourth and final season?

6 episodes make up season four, released on August 8, 2024; each of the first three seasons had ten.

Which real-life married couple play the Keepers' founders Jean and Gene Thibedeau in season four?

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, married since 2003, play the conspiracy-obsessed Thibedeaus; David Cross joined the same season as Sy Grossman.

In season four, what does Ben spike the siblings' saké with to restore their powers?

Marigold, the glowing particle that grants powers, is slipped into the siblings' saké; their abilities return scrambled, with Lila now firing beams from her eyes.

Jennifer, the girl at the heart of season four, was found in 1995 inside what?

Asked what happened, she answered only 'The Cleanse'.

Reginald built a whole town to keep Jennifer hidden in which US state?

Maine is where Reginald built New Grumpson, a fake small town whose residents are all his employees, to keep Jennifer hidden.

How does the series ultimately end?

The siblings let themselves be erased so one normal timeline remains: in the finale they dissolve into glowing particles, undoing the Academy's existence.

Although set in a US city, the series was mainly filmed in and around which Canadian city?

Toronto, Ontario hosts most of the filming, with Ontario locations passing for the unnamed US city and, in season two, for early-1960s Texas.

Which composer scored the series?

Jeff Russo, the Emmy-winning composer of Fargo and Star Trek: Discovery, scored all four seasons.

Elliot Page earned an Academy Award nomination for which 2007 film, years before The Umbrella Academy?

Juno, Jason Reitman's 2007 comedy about a pregnant teenager, brought Page a Best Actress nomination at the 80th Academy Awards.

What is the job of Eudora Patch, Diego's ex-girlfriend in season one?

A police detective, Eudora Patch, played by Ashley Madekwe, investigates the siblings and is shot dead by Cha-Cha while rescuing a kidnapped sibling from a motel.

Who developed the television series and served as its showrunner?

Steve Blackman developed the show and ran it for all four seasons; Jeremy Slater wrote the pilot script, and the comic's creators served as executive producers.

How many households watched season one in its first month, per the streamer's April 2019 report?

45 million households was the streaming service's own figure, given in its April 2019 shareholder letter as a first-four-weeks projection for the season.

What unusual ability does alternate-timeline team member Jayme, played by Cazzie David, have?

Spitting hallucinogenic venom is Jayme's trick: one glob to the face sends a victim into vivid hallucinations, which she uses during the brawl that opens season three.

In the comics, what is Luther's superhero codename?

Spaceboy is Luther's comic codename; after a near-fatal accident the comic version's head is transplanted onto the body of a Martian ape, which the show softened into a serum.

Diego's comic-book alter ego is named after which sea monster?

The Kraken is Diego's codename in the comics, where he is Number Two and a vigilante who, like the show's version, favours throwing knives.

What is Klaus's superhero codename in the comics?

The Séance is his comic codename; the comic version channels the dead and is drawn perpetually barefoot with a cigarette in hand.

Ben, who hides tentacled monsters under his skin, goes by which codename?

The Horror is his codename in the comics, for the tentacled beasts he can unleash; in the show a memorial statue of him stands on the academy grounds.

What is Diego's main superpower in the original comics?

Holding his breath indefinitely is his comic-book power, handy underwater; the show swapped it for the trajectory-bending knife throws that became his signature.

The second comic miniseries reveals that Five and Luther are what?

Twin brothers: the second miniseries reveals in a single offhand line that Five and Luther were born twins, a detail the show left out.

What is the name of Five's puppy in the comics?

Mr. Pennycrumb is the dog Five adopts in the second comic miniseries; the show left him out, giving Five a mannequin for company instead.

In the very first comic issue, which Paris landmark takes off into space?

The Eiffel Tower, piloted by the zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel, blasts off into space in the issue titled 'The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Berserk'.

Which artist painted the covers for the Apocalypse Suite comics?

James Jean, the Taiwanese-American illustrator known for his Fables covers, painted the Apocalypse Suite covers.

What is the comic-book name of the timeline agency the show calls the Commission?

Temps Aeternalis is the time-policing agency of the second comic miniseries, the employer of Hazel and Cha-Cha; the show renamed it the Commission.

In the comics, Vanya is recruited into which world-ending ensemble?

The Orchestra Verdammten, led by the Conductor, recruits Vanya to perform the world-ending 'Apocalypse Suite', the piece that gives the first comic volume its name.

How many issues did the third Umbrella Academy comic miniseries run?

7 issues make up the third miniseries, published monthly from October 2018 to April 2019, almost a decade after the second one wrapped.

What is Number Five's codename in the original comics?

The Boy is Five's codename in the comics, fitting a man stuck in a child's body after decades lost in the future.

The spin-off You Look Like Death sends a young Klaus to Hollywood to tangle with what?

The vampire mafia is what the runaway teenager falls foul of in Hollywood; the 2020 miniseries was co-written with Shaun Simon, with art by I.N.J. Culbard.

How do Hazel and Cha-Cha receive their orders from the Commission in season one?

By pneumatic tube: the Commission's orders arrive in capsules that pop out of a tube, and Hazel and Cha-Cha start ignoring them as Hazel sours on the job.

Who directed the series premiere, 'We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals'?

Peter Hoar, the British director also behind It's a Sin and The Last of Us episode 'Long, Long Time', directed the premiere.

In which season three episode does Viktor come out to his siblings?

World's Biggest Ball of Twine, the second episode, has the scene: Diego asks 'Who's Viktor?', Viktor answers 'I am', and the family accepts it at once before returning to business.

What is the title of the season two finale?

The End of Something is the tenth episode of season two, ending with the siblings jumping back to 2019 and finding their home is no longer theirs; 'Right Back Where We Started' opens the season.

What is the title of the series' final episode?

End of the Beginning is the final episode of season four, released with the rest of the season on August 8, 2024.

What is Diego's day job in 2019 when season one begins?

Janitor at a boxing gym is the job: Diego mops up at Al's gym and sleeps in its boiler room between nights of vigilante patrols.

The pilot's opening montage is set to music from which musical?

The Phantom of the Opera, in a solo string arrangement Vanya is shown rehearsing, soundtracks the montage that introduces each sibling learning of Reginald's death.

Which historic venue stood in for the concert hall where Vanya performs?

The Elgin Theatre, the lower half of a stacked double-decker Edwardian theatre centre in Ontario, became the Icarus Theatre where Vanya's orchestra plays.

Where does Five crash back into 2019 in the pilot?

The academy courtyard is where a crackling temporal rift opens, dropping a 13-year-old-looking Five in front of his stunned siblings.

What is the title of Vanya's tell-all memoir about growing up in the Academy?

Extra Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven is Vanya's memoir, which aired the family's secrets and left her estranged from most of her siblings.

What is the name of Reginald's wife, whose revival drives his season three scheme?

Abigail Hargreeves is Reginald's late wife, and the universe he rewrites in the season three finale brings her back alive at his side.

Which actor did Pogo's on-set body motion capture and also plays Commission analyst Herb?

Ken Hall performed Pogo's body on set in a grey motion-capture suit, with Adam Godley providing the voice and face; Hall also plays the Commission's Herb.

What does the Commission call its console for viewing any moment in the timeline?

The Infinite Switchboard is the Commission's viewing console that can tune in to any point in the timeline; Five is shown using it at the Commission in season two.

Which studio optioned the comic as a feature film years before it became a series?

Universal Pictures optioned the comic in 2010 as a feature film, hiring Mark Bomback and later Rawson Marshall Thurber to write it; the movie never got made.

Tom Hopper, who plays Luther, appeared as Dickon Tarly in which series?

Game of Thrones cast Tom Hopper as Dickon Tarly in season seven, replacing Freddie Stroma; he had earlier played Sir Percival in Merlin.

Robert Sheehan, who plays Klaus, broke out as Nathan Young in which British series?

Misfits, the E4 comedy-drama about young offenders with powers, made Robert Sheehan a star as Nathan Young; he left after its second series.

Before The Umbrella Academy, Aidan Gallagher starred in which Nickelodeon sitcom?

Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn ran for four seasons from 2014 to 2018 on Nickelodeon, with him playing quadruplet Nicky Harper.

Allison's actor Emmy Raver-Lampman was in the original Broadway cast of which musical?

Hamilton's original Broadway ensemble included Emmy Raver-Lampman, who understudied the Schuyler sisters and later played Angelica on tour; she met partner Daveed Diggs in the cast.

In 1963, Diego is locked in a psychiatric hospital after trying to kill whom?

Lee Harvey Oswald was Diego's target; caught, he is committed to the Holbrook Sanitarium, where he meets fellow patient Lila before the two break out.

Arriving in 1961, Allison finds work in what kind of business run by Odessa?

A beauty salon, Odessa's, gives Allison work and a community; she marries activist Ray Chestnut and joins the sit-in movement while her damaged voice heals.

What does Klaus found during his years in the early 1960s?

A cult called Destiny's Children grows around him in the early 1960s; its followers include the devoted Keechie and Jill, while his ghostly brother disapproves.

Harlan Cooper gains powers after Vanya saves him from what?

Drowning in a pond nearly kills Harlan; Vanya revives him and unknowingly passes on some of her power, which he never fully controls even decades later.

In season three, Klaus learns his birth mother Rachel was a farmer from which community?

Amish farmer Rachel was his mother; the season three road trip with Five reveals she died before giving birth in the new timeline, feeding the grandfather paradox.

Fighting the hotel's Guardian in season three, Five loses what, matching his future self?

His left arm is severed by the Guardian's blade, matching the one-armed old Five who founded the Commission; the universe reset at the end of the season restores it.

In 1963, a younger Reginald works for which shadowy group?

The Majestic 12, a secret committee of industrialists and officials, employs him; in the season two finale he unmasks his alien face and slaughters its members, and an earlier episode bears the group's name.

What is the name of the particle carried inside Jennifer in season four?

Durango is the particle carried inside Jennifer, the opposite of the one that powers the siblings; contact between the two triggers the world-ending Cleanse.

Where does Luther imprison Vanya after learning of her powers in season one?

A soundproof chamber under the academy, built by Reginald to contain her as a child, is where Luther locks Vanya; her rage there sets up the finale.

In the comics, what do the assassins Hazel and Cha-Cha wear over their faces?

Cartoon animal masks, drawn as oversized mascot heads, hide the comic Hazel and Cha-Cha's faces, a look the show kept in the form of colourful plastic masks.

Adult Harlan is living under which alias when the siblings find him in season three?

Lester Pocket is the name old Harlan uses; Callum Keith Rennie plays him as a man who can now speak but has never mastered the powers Vanya passed on.

In the pilot, how old does Five say he really is inside his 13-year-old body?

58 is his answer when the siblings ask; the jump home misfired and shoved his consciousness into his 13-year-old body, so he complains of facing puberty twice.

In the comics, what was infused into Five to make him 'the perfect assassin'?

DNA of history's best killers was spliced into him by the time agency that employed him, a procedure revealed in the second comic miniseries.

Klaus served with which unit during his ten months at war?

173rd Airborne Brigade, the 'Sky Soldiers', is the unit whose patch he wears; he fought in the A Shau Valley in 1968 alongside Dave.

In the comics finale, which power does Klaus use to stop the falling moon debris?

Telekinesis: in the comic's climax he floats skyward and holds back the shattered moon with his mind, a power the show never gave him, opting for immortality in season three.

Who manages the Hotel Obsidian in season three?

Chet Rodo, played by Julian Richings, is the fussy manager of the hotel where the siblings hole up after being thrown out of their old home.

Where are Five and Lila stranded for years in season four?

A subway between timelines is where Five and Lila end up after a jump goes wrong; they spend years riding it between alternate worlds before finding a way home.

Christopher, the alternate-timeline team's Number Seven, is what?

A sentient cube that floats and never speaks, Christopher can flash-freeze a room; the other members of his team nonetheless treat him as family.