“The Umbrella Academy” Season 3 – All of the Similarities, Differences, and References Between the New Season and the Original Comics

(L to R) Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison Hargreeves, David Castañeda as Diego Hargreeves, Robert Sheehan as Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Netflix’s adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s The Umbrella Academy tends to hew closer to the Dexter and Game of Thrones style of book-to-screen adaptations. Each season loosely adapts some of the source material while largely telling its own story. For The Umbrella Academy, this approach results in a lovely mishmash of loads of new storylines and plenty of references to the comics. It’s a great, big easter egg hunt for fans new and old alike. So, in celebration of season three’s recent release, let’s take a look at what parts of The Umbrella Academy comics the new season references.

Note: There will be full spoilers for season three of The Umbrella Academy as well as all currently published storylines from the comics.

The Plot

While season 1 loosely adapted the comic’s first arc, The Apocalypse Suite, and season two loosely adapted the second arc, Dallas, season three hardly touches on anything that happens in the third arc, Hotel Oblivion. And honestly, that’s probably for the best. Hotel Oblivion is a dense, messy story that features a bunch of supervillains escaping from an interdimensional prison and wreaking havoc on the City while the Hargreeves siblings are off doing their own things. It builds off of everything that came before it, expanding the mythology of The Umbrella Academy in exciting ways and expertly setting the series up for stories yet to be published. But as a story in its own right, it’s a hard one to adapt. Especially considering how far from the comics Netflix’s adaptation has gotten.

After all, considering the TV series has hardly referenced any of Reginald’s inventions or any of the Umbrella Academy’s supervillains, a true adaptation of Hotel Oblivion would have required an almost unbearable amount of exposition. So, instead, season three of The Umbrella Academy opts to tell an entirely different, far more character-driven story. Gone are the escaped supervillains and interdimensional prisons. In their place is a new timeline with a brand-new team of super-powered siblings and a universe-ending threat for the Umbrella Academy siblings to deal with. It’s a story about overcoming trauma, finding your family, and persevering against even the worst odds. It may not have much in common with the Hotel Oblivion comic, but it’s a delight in its own way. And, as an extra bonus, it’s still filled with a ton of references to the comic.

The Sparrow Academy

Originally appearing at the end of the comic’s most recent arc, Hotel Oblivion, the Sparrow Academy remains quite mysterious. Like the Umbrella Academy, the Sparrows are a seven-member team. There’s only one named character, Carla, whose power helps Vanya (Viktor in the show) walk again. The rest remain nameless, though all but one of them have pretty well-defined powers. Their Number One has super strength. Another member can turn into a Murder of crows. One appears to be a human voodoo doll. Another can release blasts from their face. And lastly, there’s the floating cube. The Sparrows have presumably existed alongside the Umbrella Academy this whole time, and they appear to have been born at the exact same time as the Hargreeves siblings. Other than that, however, the comics haven’t explored the Sparrow Academy very much. So, the TV series had plenty of room to explore the Sparrow Academy.

And that’s exactly what season three does. The TV show’s version of the Sparrow Academy mostly mirrors the comic’s version – except for Ben’s inclusion and the whole alternate universe thing. Marcus, Fei, Alphonso, and Christopher have obvious counterparts in the comics while Sloane and Jayme’s comic counterparts are a bit less clear. The only Sparrow from the comic without an obvious TV counterpart is Carla. Ben, however, fills a similar role to Carla’s as he ends up being the Sparrows’ connection to the Umbrella Academy. As for the characters’ respective personalities, that’s something season three had to make up for itself. And overall, I think it largely succeeded. The Sparrows act as perfect foils for the Umbrella Academy siblings. And Ben, especially, adds a truly juicy dynamic to both teams.

Hotel Oblivion

Much of season three takes place inside the mysterious Hotel Obsidian, a hotel built by Reginald Hargreeves so he could access a doorway to another dimension that houses the ability to reset the universe. That alternate dimension takes the form of Hotel Oblivion, an even stranger hotel whose inner dimensions shift as needed and whose secrets are guarded by deadly Guardians. Reginald’s interest in the hotel rests in its ability to reset the universe and bring his wife back to life. And so, he tricks the Umbrella Academy (and Ben and Sloane) into defeating the Guardians and helping him reboot the universe. To put it simply, the show’s version of Hotel Oblivion bears little in common with the comic’s, outside of its commitment to mind-blowing levels of strangeness and its bug infestation.

The Hotel Oblivion of the comics is an interdimensional prison built by Reginald Hargreeves to trap the worst of the Umbrella Academy’s supervillains. In the Hotel Oblivion arc, the Hargreeves siblings learn of the prison’s existence after a bunch of their supervillains escape and wreak havoc upon the City. The big twist, though, is that the hotel’s chief purpose was to entrap some kind of mysterious creature (who may or may not be related to Ben’s squid powers). That creature ultimately escapes alongside the rest of the villains. But what it is, what it wants, and where it might go remains a mystery. While it also features a shapeshifting, hard-to-escape interior, the comic version of the hotel does not possess any world-rebooting abilities. So, it’s a similar idea with a wildly different execution.

Various Odds and Ends

As is often the case with The Umbrella Academy, season three features a host of smaller references to the comics too. Ones that don’t necessarily impact the storyline in any important ways but are still fun to spot. Here are just a few of the ones I picked up on. But there are probably many, many more scattered throughout the show for eagle-eyed viewers to find.

The Mothers of Agony

Midway through the season, Klaus tells Five about a biker gang called the Mothers of Agony. As it turns out, they’re responsible for a tattoo Five found on his older self’s chest. And this universe’s version of Pogo, a member of the Mothers of Agony, gave him that tattoo. While Pogo isn’t a part of the gang in the comics, the show’s depiction of the Mothers of Agony otherwise hews fairly closely to their depiction in the comics.

The Mothers of Agony appear primarily in the Hotel Oblivion arc. Mostly, they take advantage of Klaus’s powers. They force him to con mourning loved ones out of their dead loved ones’ possessions in exchange for a constant flow of drugs. Klaus ultimately takes out most of the gang in a bid for his freedom – as one does. But otherwise, they don’t bear much importance on the grander storyline.

The Commission

The Commission briefly appears a few times throughout the season, mostly in flashbacks and in glimpses of its now-destroyed state. However, the comic’s version of the Commission, Temps Aeternalis, remains active as far as we can tell. Temps Aeternalis only appears in the comic’s second arc, Dallas, with Hotel Oblivion completely avoiding any reference to it. And though Five killed its leader, Carmichael, in the Dallas arc, the organization presumably continues unabated in his absence. Also worth noting is the fact that there’s nothing in the comics to suggest Five founded the Temps Aeternalis. Though, there’s also nothing that suggests he couldn’t have created the organization either. So, take that however you want.

Abigail Hargreeves’ Cryogenic Tank on the Moon

One of the season’s more surprising moments came towards the end of the season. Reginald Hargreeves reveals he had sent Luther to the moon specifically to protect a cryogenic tank holding the body of Abigail Hargreeves – a woman we can only assume is Reginald’s deceased wife. The comics have no counterpart to this. And nothing suggests that Luther was sent to the moon ostensibly to protect anyone related to Reginald, either. However, a character in Hotel Oblivion does refer to someone named Stella, who Reginald “cared deeply” for. Reginald and Stella made numerous discoveries together a long time ago. So, perhaps Abigail Hargreeves is a reference to Stella? Hopefully, the next season will delve deeper into Abigail’s origins and answer some of these questions.

What’s Next?

At this point, we’re well out of source material to make any guesses with. As season three ends, The Umbrella Academy appears to now be powerless. Allison has returned to her house, finding Claire and Ray unharmed. (Though, how Ray is in the present remains a mystery.) And Reginald has successfully rebooted the universe in his own image. Where the story goes from here is anyone’s guess. The most recent arc of the comics, Hotel Oblivion, ended with the introduction of the Sparrow Academy. And, as we’ve seen, the show’s moved far past that point now.

However, the next season might finally reference some of the comic’s largely ignored world-building. In the comics, most people know Reginald Hargreeves as a famous inventor who happened to adopt some superpowered kids, not the other way around. Perhaps by introducing this Hargreeves-centric world at the end of season three, season four might introduce some of his inventions – like the Televator (essentially an elevator that can teleport). As for what else might be in store for our favorite group of super-powered siblings, the comics offer few answers. For now, only time will tell.

All three seasons of The Umbrella Academy are available now on Netflix. Volumes 1-3 of the comics are available in various formats from Dark Horse Comics.