The Umbrella Academy debuted in comic form in 2007 to rave reviews, eventually inspiring the perpetually bizarre and emotionally resonant Netflix series of the same name. The core cast has been through a whole lot in just three seasons, with the latest season just arriving on Netflix to further throw them into a plot that involves murder, dancing, the possible end of the universe, and a giant floating cube. Through it all, the series maintains the emotional and cinematic throughline that helped elevate the first two seasons into one of the more exciting shows on the streaming service.
Ahead of The Umbrella Academy's third season debut on June 22, Series Creator, Showrunner, and Executive Producer Steve Blackman spoke with members of the press, including CBR. He dove into the important role music plays in the show, juggling a fresh batch of superpowered rivals to the show's core characters, and conferring with Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá on the overarching arc of the story.
The Sparrows are a major wildcard for the season, with their own motivations and in-fighting complicating matters even further for the Umbrella Academy. The energy that came out of the conflict played a big part in its appeal for Blackman, who explained that "I just thought it was such an interesting chemistry when we had all of them together. [When casting] the Sparrows, I obviously cast them independently of the Umbrellas. When they were on set, even though they were friends when we weren't rolling, you could see the competitive nature come out. When we said action... They all wanted that. That was their house, they were in their rooms. So there was a wonderful sense of like... we're fighting for the same turf. So that was a really fun aspect of it."
One of the biggest twists with the Sparrows is the presence of Ben on their roster. Played by Justin H. Min, the previous two seasons have featured the spirit of Ben as a member of the cast. While that incarnation of the character found peace and passed on during Season 2, a more ruthless version appears as a member of the Sparrow Academy's reality. Comparing the two versions of Ben, Blackman broke down how "Justin did such an incredible job. Not only did he physically change himself -- he changed his body, worked out more -- but he also changed how he projected his voice, how he did everything. But he is the same Ben from the other timeline."
"It's just the fact that in this timeline, he didn't die at 16," Blackman added, "so you have a wonderful nature/nurture argument. He was raised by the same dad, but just with different siblings, with a very different outcome... Justin was able to play a very different Ben than the one we had known from Season 1 and Season 2, but deep down, it's got the same chords they've been. I think the Sparrow Ben is fighting really, really hard to not let anyone see what's inside."
Based on the Eisner-winning comic of the same name created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, the show has been following a similar track to the comic series, sharing a general plot with the comic's overarching storyline. Reflecting on working with the pair while designing the season, Blackman noted how "Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá -- obviously, we've become very close over the years. They're so generous with me with their storytelling and what they know. Not only do they allow that, we've all come to the conclusion that the graphic novel and the TV show don't have to be exact replicas of each other."
"Obviously, everything is inspired by the graphic novels," Blackman continued. "That's the springboard, but sometimes we have two different media that are actually sometimes inspired the other way... Gerard has 10 volumes in his head, right? So I spent a lot of time talking to him about where he's going with the graphic novel. We're always in contact with each other, talking through different aspects. I'm very fortunate to have that relationship with him as a creator. Gabriel, too... I just feel fortunate to have that."
Another major influence on the show has always been -- and remains, throughout Season 3 -- music. Some of the show's most memorable moments have been the musical beats that drop throughout the show, giving it some of its unique energy and tone -- a perfect playlist, the bizarre ballad of the weirdos at the heart of the show. "Music is one of the core elements of the show," Blackman said. "I love music. I encourage the writers to write songs into the scripts. Then ultimately, we work with an amazing supervisor, Jen Malone, to sort of collate that list. Every song is special in its own little way to us. Sometimes it fits the scene perfectly, and sometimes it subverts the scene, and we enjoy that."
"Music is a big part of my life," added Blackman. "I listen to music when I ride or listen to music when I write... I try a lot of songs against a lot of different scenes and just sometimes see how they all fit together. Like They Might Be Giants in the very first season during the diner shoot-out, that probably shouldn't go together, but weirdly, it does. It's a bit of trial and error... The mood of the song doesn't have to absolutely match into the scene, but that's what's so great about music. It can evoke so many different emotions in people, and sometimes some of the odder songs work in different settings that you'd never expect them to. We have a lot of fun playing around with that in the show."
One of the show's trickiest balancing acts comes with the sheer scope of this season's cast. On top of the six remaining members of the Umbrella Academy, there's also the newly introduced Sparrow Academy and the numerous wild cards that fill out the season. Keeping the focus properly balanced between all of the storylines and characters "was actually a tricky balancing act," Blackman admitted. "I work with the writers a lot on it because one [storyline] can easily overtake the other so quickly."
"Remember we had up to 13, 14 characters to deal with this year," Blackman continued. "It was hard at times because we found [that] some episodes, for me, we weren't doing enough of the [season's overarching threat]. So we had to remind the audience that this thing is growing, and evil is coming. At the same time, we didn't want to shortchange any of the storylines of the intrapersonal relationships. So it took a lot of drafts and redrafting. We did a lot of rewriting to find that balance. We chose to have a 44-minute running time average. So it was a lot to do in that 44 minutes. It was a struggle, but we managed to, I think, find it. It was a lot of work with the writers and me."
To see some of the best music drops and absurd action in television, check out The Umbrella Academy's third season, streaming on Netflix June 22.