Weirdness that’s cutting-edge cool on the pages of a graphic novel or comic book can get flattened out on a TV screen, as the frustrating TV adaption of Preacher has proven.
Umbrella Academy, a new comic book adaptation that becomes available Friday on Netflix, suffers from that problem here and there. The better news: In the larger picture it does a pretty good job of turning some serious sci-fi and superhero craziness into people stories we care about watching.
The Umbrella Academy was created by remote and eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) for the stated purpose of saving the world.
The original Academy, unveiled in a 2007 comic by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, had seven pupils, six of whom had superpowers. All seven had been mysteriously born to women who until moments before the births had not been pregnant.
Sir Reginald bought these seven kids, in effect, and told them they were being trained to thwart a menace that could wipe out humanity.
In the course of this training, Sir Reginald was often harsh and cold, telling them they must be trained with tough love to survive a tough world. None of them nominated him for Dad of the Year.
They got slightly more affection from their mother Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins), who unfortunately doubled as a Stepford Wife. They also drew a bit of emotional support from Pogo (Adam Godley), who was Sir Reginald’s chief assistant and also a chimpanzee.
Hard as it may seem to believe with this nurturing background, the Academy team eventually broke up.
The Netflix series starts with their reunion, for a sad occasion that does not at first draw them any closer together.
The reunion crew includes Luther (Tom Hopper, below), known to Sir Reginald as Number One. He’s an astronaut with the powerful body and super strength of a Martian ape.
Number Two, Diego (David Castenada, left), is a bitter fellow who can hold his breath for a long time and throws a mean knife. He seems to wear his black uniform all the time.
Number Three, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman, left) has become a celebrity movie star who has exceptional powers of lying that were not enough to save her marriage.
Number Four, Klaus (Robert Sheehan), is a junkie who does telekinesis and can speak with the dead. A useful skill in this story.
Number Five, The Boy (Aidan Gallagher), can travel through time and return looking like he’s still 17. As our story begins, he has come back from the future with terrible news that his siblings at first seem disinterested in addressing.
Number Six, Ben (Ethan Hwang), had the unnerving ability to summon monsters from another dimension. We say “had” because Ben is dead.
Number Seven, Vanya (Ellen Page, below), is the only one of the seven with no superpowers. Instead, she apparently wrote a book, or something, that told family secrets and made her the least popular sibling. Yup, even less popular than the bitter Diego or the junkie Klaus.
Put this group in a situation where strange things start happening – big, loud, crazy, menacing things with no logical explanation – and the possibilities for drama become extensive.
On the other hand, take away the superpowers, and this could be any group of squabbling siblings who grew up with deficient parents.
While they’re well versed in physical and psychological abuse, they also have the classic superhero knack for sprinkling dry humor into almost any situation.
Writer Jeremy Slater and showrunner Steven Blackman don’t have an easy task here.
Umbrella Academy was first optioned for a movie in 2010, and no script seemed to capture the comic’s dynamic or tone. It may have migrated to television in part because TV has more time to let things develop, but Blackman still must balance the characters between their stylized, oversized comic book personalities and the humanity they need to radiate on television.
Full credit to the Umbrella Academy team for taking the shot.