Netflix has made a notable change to The Umbrella Academy's rating, and it suggests more graphic content is coming in Season 3.The Umbrella Academy was rated TV-14 for Seasons 1 and 2, but Netflix has quietly upped the rating to TV-MA. The change appears to have only taken effect in the U.S., however -- as of this writing, the series' rating remains unchanged in countries such as the U.K. and Ireland.
According to Netflix's rating system, TV-14 shows "may not be suitable for ages 14 and under," while TV-MA is described as "for mature audiences" and "may not be suitable for ages 17 and under." TV-MA is Netflix's strongest rating for television series. Most of Netflix's original dramas and comedies are rated TV-MA, including the likes of Inventing Anna, The Last Kingdom, Bridgerton, Space Force and Sex Education.
IMDB's Parents Guide for The Umbrella Academy lists the series' mature themes as mild to moderate. Users rated its use of sex, nudity, profanity, and frightening or intense scenes as "mild," while the series' inclusion of violence/gore and alcohol/drugs/smoking was deemed "moderate." It stands to reason some of these assessments may change upon the release of Season 3, considering the show's new official rating.
Netflix recently revealed a June 22 premiere date for The Umbrella Academy's highly anticipated Season 3. Season 2 ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger where the Hargreeves family returns to an alternate 2019 in which their adoptive father is still alive and the Sparrow Academy exists in the Umbrella Academy's stead. Vanya, Five, Allison, Diego, Klaus and Luther find themselves face-to-face with five alternate Hargreeves family members, a floating green cube, and a very-much-alive Ben.
In February, Allison actor Emmy Raver-Lampman suggested the new season will diverge even more from Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's original comic series. "We're running adjacent to the graphic novels, but I don't think [creator] Steve [Blackman] is beholden at all to the graphic novels," she said. "I think there will always be a connection there, but the further we get into The Umbrella Academy, the TV show, I think it's finding its own way ... This third season, we're really, really doing our own thing, and I think the show has found some really cool plots to follow and explore."
All 10 episodes of The Umbrella Academy Season 3, beginning with "Meet the Family," will drop June 22 on Netflix.
Source: Netflix, via Twitter