Picture: Universal Television / Netflix
The third season has been the best season of The Umbrella Academy yet, and fans who have already binged season 3 can’t wait to see what will be in store in season 4. Netflix is yet to announce the renewal of The Umbrella Academy, but we’re certain that it’s only a matter of time before this is confirmed. We’ll be keeping track of everything you need to know about The Umbrella Academy season 4, including, what to expect, production updates, casting news, trailers, and the Netflix release date.
The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix Original superhero-comedy-drama series created by Steve Blackman and based on the comics of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá.
Since 2019, The Umbrella Academy helped rewrite the script on the dysfunctional superhero family, providing subscribers with hours’ of binge-worthy entertainment.
Has The Umbrella Academy been renewed for season 4?
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Pending (Last Updated: 23/06/2022)
Our Renewal Prediction: Likely Renewal
The third season of The Umbrella Academy only just landed on Netflix, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the streamer hasn’t announced the renewal for season four yet. The Umbrella Academy is still one of Netflix’s most popular original series, and rumor has it, that the series is already in active development, and renewal will be confirmed soon.
Steve Blackman, the creator behind the show who works with Netflix on an overall deal has stated he has plans for a fourth season at least. He recently said:
“I have a pretty good idea of Season 4. If we’re lucky enough to be picked up, I know where we’re going. Clearly, there will be a challenge for our Umbrellas to deal with a world where they have no powers. I think it’s safe to say they’ll figure out a way to get them back.”
How well has The Umbrella Academy season 3 performed on Netflix?
Netflix themselves have offered us direct viewing hours number via their global top 10 site. Every week, they publish 40 numbers with viewing hours for the most-watched shows and movies.
Here’s how its hourly viewing figures break down per week:
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 19th, 2022 to June 26th, 2022 | 124,530,000 | 1 | 1 |
| June 26th, 2022 to July 3rd, 2022 | 87,980,000 (-29%) | 2 | 2 |
| July 3rd, 2022 to July 10th, 2022 | 43,840,000 (-50%) | 3 | 3 |
We should also note that some of the earlier seasons have also seen a bump in viewership with the release of season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. Both seasons 1 and 2 of the show have featured in the hourly top 10s.
Season 2 notably scored 34.53M hours viewed between June 26th through July 10th. Season 1 had the biggest rise in viewership scoring 78.25M hours viewed between June 19th and July 10th. What we don’t know is how many of these viewing hours are fresh viewers vs people rewatching the first two seasons. Either way, viewership being spread back to the early seasons is always a good sign.
TelevisionStats.com which tracks the popularity of shows using demand metrics such as Google, IMDb, Reddit, Wikipedia and Twitter has the show as the third most popular show in the world 3 weeks following its release.
The Umbrella Academy popularity 3 weeks after release – Picture: TelevisionStats.com
Raw top 10 data compiled by FlixPatrol shows that the show has been steady in its popularity around the world and is most popular in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe.
What to expect from The Umbrella Academy season 4
The world’s best worst father
Sir Reginald Hargreeves is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst fathers in the known universe. Simply a means to a selfish end, Reginald’s only reason for the adoption of the children of the Umbrella Academy and Sparrow Academy was so that he could reset the universe in his image, and be reunited with his dead wife, Abigail.
Once his children realize that he’s alive, we can expect a less than a civil visit from the Hargreeves family. We still don’t know the full extent of what Reginald’s universe reset means for his children, but in true Reginald fashion, we expect they’ve been screwed over again.
Reginald and Abigail reunited at last, but at what cost? – Picture. Netflix
A life without powers
With the removal of their powers, the Umbrella and Sparrow Academy are a significantly reduced threat to Reginald. Life will be dramatically different for the Hargreeves family, who without their powers will now experience a new form of vulnerability. This means no more bus ball for Klaus.
This also begs the question, in this world did Reginald adopt the Hargreeves children, and regardless of whether or not he did, this could mean that all of their respective mothers are still alive. After finally making a bond with Reginald, it was all for naught, so while Klaus will still be feeling the pain of betrayal, if he comes to the realization his mother could still be alive then he’ll be on a road trip to Pennsylvania immediately.
If some of the Hargreeves have a better life without their powers, such as Allison, it may take some convincing to return to their former lives.
Aidan Gallagher has teased that we could see the characters of the show be more akin to their comic book counterparts. In an interview with Collider, he told them, “We may see a more comic book version of Five in Season 4.”
Gallagher also spoke about what we could expect from his character saying:
“I think he’ll go on mission mode and try to figure out how to make everything right with this new, strange reality that Hargreeves has made up. I don’t know. It may bring out a more mission-oriented version of Five. It’s very final, the way it resolves. It’s this new world, with them not having powers. I’d like to see some of the characters, at least for the time being, settle into that reality. I don’t know if Five is that type of personality. I think he’s still gonna wrestle with it, but we’ll have to see. Let’s hope it gets picked up.”
Timeskip?
In real life, Aidan Gallagher, the actor for Five is 18 years old and will turn 19 in September. By the time we expect the fourth season of The Umbrella Academy to arrive on Netflix, he’ll be almost 21 years old. Now, while Gallagher plays an extremely convincing 15-year-old, it won’t be long before he outgrows the look of one. A simple time-skip would allow the actor’s real-life growth to be worked into the story of Five looking older than a 15-year-old.
Included in the time-skip we’d get to see how drastically different the lives of the Hargreeves have changed. Diego and Lila will have had their baby, if Luther can find Sloane the newlyweds may be able to enjoy a few years of marital bliss, and Ben, clearly upset by the loss of his powers may begin his own plan to takedown Hargreeves.
The oldest 15-year-old in history, Five (left) meeting his younger but older bodied self (right) in season 2
A fractured family
All of the Hargreeves have been through their own trials, tribulations, and trauma, and despite how dysfunctional they are, have still remained as a family. But in a brand new universe without powers, the choice to move on with their lives could fracture the relationships of the family who want their powers back.
Allison’s betrayal will still sting, and while she is reunited with Claire and Ray, she may seek to repair the burning bridge with her siblings.
When asked about whether Allison is in a different timeline, showrunner Steve Blackman said:
“… Allison is not in a different timeline, she’s in the same timeline. In fact, Ray and Claire do exist in this timeline now. That was the dark deal she made with Hargreeves, to help Hargreeves bring the family together. This is what she got.”
We also see Ben from season 3 in the post-credits scene but is this a new Ben? Blackman said:
“It’s not a different timeline Ben. It’s the Ben we know from Season 3, but how that works and why we’re seeing him will be a Season 4 reveal.”
When will The Umbrella Academy season 4 go into production?
If we look back at the production schedule of the third season, production prep didn’t begin until October 2020, and filming began several months later in February 2021. Filming ended on August 28th, 2021. It must be noted that the global pandemic was still greatly affecting productions all around the globe, which may explain why it took so long between the start of pre-production and filming.
If the fourth season follows a similar schedule then production prep could begin as early as September or October 2020. Filming could begin by the end of the year or the start of 2023 and be finished sometime in the summer.
For now, there is no confirmation on when The Umbrella Academy season 4 begins production.
Who will be in the cast of The Umbrella Academy season 4?
We expect to see the following cast members return in the fourth season of The Umbrella Academy:
| Role | Cast Member |
|---|---|
| #U7 Viktor | Elliot Page |
| #U1 Luther | Tom Hopper |
| #U2 Diego | David Castañeda |
| #U3 Allison | Emmy Raver-Lampman |
| #U4 Klaus | Robert Sheehan |
| #U5 | Aidan Gallagher |
| #S2 Ben | Justin H. Min |
| Sir Reginald | Colm Feore |
| Lila Pitts | Ritu Arya |
| Pogo | Adam Godley |
| #S5 Sloane | Genesis Rodriguez |
| Abigail | Liisa Repo-Martell |
It’s unclear if the deceased members of The Sparrow Academy will be returning as it’s still unclear how much of the universe has been changed by Sir Reginald.
When will The Umbrella Academy season 4 be on Netflix?
Steve Blackman, the showrunner of The Umbrella Academy, has stated in the past that the time to produce each season of The Umbrella Academy takes up to 18 months before its eventual release on Netflix.
This means that even if production was to start the day after season 3 landed on Netflix, at the earliest we’d be waiting until December 2023.
As we discussed above, if production for season 4 begins in the Fall of 2022, then we may not see The Umbrella Academy return to Netflix until the Spring or Summer of 2024.
Will season 4 be the last of The Umbrella Academy?
As we reported in our season 3 preview, the showrunner, Steve Blackman, was given an 18-page document by the comic-book creator, and frontman of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way.
It’s unclear what is enclosed in the document, however, if it’s 18 pages of the story then we could see The Umbrella Academy reach a fifth or possibly sixth season.
Would you like to see a fourth season of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!