A new show called ‘The Umbrella Academy’ was released by Netflix on February 15th, 2019. Minimal advertisements were needed to get the word out about the new Netflix original series because of two main factors. One of those factors is the obvious fact that the show was a straight to Netflix show, so it’s bound to get some attention no matter what. The other is the fact that the creator of the show is none other than Gerard Way. Gerard Way is a musician, writer, and artist that has amassed a great number of loyal followers ever since 2001 when he was in a very well-known alternative band called My Chemical Romance.

The band was together for twelve years before they broke up on March 22nd, 2013. Ever since then the members went their separate ways, Way kept making music for a while, but he seemed to be most dedicated to making comic books. He had started a comic book back in 2007 and finished the first series in 2008. This first comic was called The Umbrella Academy.  Then in 2017 Netflix confirmed that they had acquired the comic for production and would be releasing it as a Netflix Original in January of 2019 for February 15th, 2019.

From just the trailers, everyone assumed the show would just be an extremely stylized version of the Marvel’s classic X-Men series. That description is somewhat accurate, but this show is also so much more than that. The show focuses on topics like abuse, addiction, grief, and more, while also having some fun comedic sections and great storytelling. The cast also includes a great amount of diversity with the main characters being played by people of several different ethnicities and cultures.

Along with that, there are factors in the show that show representation of the LGBT+ community since there are LGBT+ characters as well as actors who worked on the show. The main characters of the show are the Hargreeves children, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben, and Vanya. Each of the Hargreeves children possess a supernatural ability, these abilities include teleportation, time travel, super strength, mind control and much more. The siblings reunite after years of not talking in order to find out the cause of their father’s death and to try and find a way to prevent the impending apocalypse.

Since the show is an adaptation of a comic series though, there are bound to be a lot of changes. Way’s happiness with the show is surprising considering the number of major changes that were made from comic to show. For example, Diego’s character is almost completely different from what he was like in the comics. The character was more standoffish and unfriendly, which is pretty different from the show’s version who is more understanding and kind. The show also gives the character a very wholesome relationship with his mother, which Way has voiced is one of his favorite changes from his creation.

Another major change is the character Leonard Peabody. This character has the most noteworthy difference from the comics because he wasn’t a character in the comics at all. There was a completely different and more dramatic character to get Leonard’s point across in the comics.

Overall though, the creator is very happy with the way the comic was adapted to Netflix and many consider the adaptation from comic series to show one of the best ever. The show has amassed many loyal fans with it’s unique style and storytelling. The interactions between characters and it’s discussion on darker, more real, topics makes the show have more personality than most. Whether or not you find yourself drawn to it, there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Superheroes, family drama, and tragic backstories. I think it’s definitely a show anyone could take something from and everyone should give it a watch.