One of Netflix’s most popular original series is joining the many series ending in 2024, with The Umbrella Academy Season 4 set to give the Hargreeves siblings a big bang of an exit when it debuts in August. But before we learn whether or not the Jennifer Incident will get explained, some troubling behind-the-scenes allegations have surfaced regarding showrunner Steve Blackman, with a number of former writers and staffers accusing him of harboring a toxic workplace and more.
Through a selection of representatives who are part of Blackman’s creative team, the series developer has denied the various claims made against him, many of which were the subject of an investigation. But despite no consequences surfacing just yet, one has to wonder whether this unfortunate turn of events will derail Netflix’s adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn. Let’s take a closer look.
The Accusations Made Against Umbrella Academy’s Steve Blackman
On June 30, 2024, Rolling Stone revealed a report including accusations and troubling anecdotes shared by twelver former Umbrella Academy writers and members of its support staff. Many of the complaints were previously included in a January 2023 HR complaint that was filed with production company Universal Content Productions, which pegged Blackman as being a manipulative and bullying boss who engages in retaliatory behavior with employees who question his judgment or share ideas that go against his wishes.
To clarify, UCP’s investigation into the matter cleared Blackman of any punishable wrongdoing, while allowing the complaints about the showrunner using foul and derogatory language to be likely true, as well as the notion that he made unprofessional remarks. But that judgment is part of the reason why many of the same staffers have gone more public (albeit anonymously) with their allegations. Here are some of the specific examples of claims made:
- Season 1 writers claim they were unfairly dismissed from the project when Steve Blackman overhauled the entire writers room with all-new staffers.
- A writing team of two women, one of which was pregnant and went on maternity leave after being hired, claim that Blackman didn’t offer them contract extensions when the writers room was kept open for rewrites, alleging that he made comments to other employees about not knowing one of the writers was pregnant when she was hired.
- Staffers claim there have been multiple instances where Steve Blackman has shown retaliatory behavior, and his Season 4 co-showrunner Jesse McKeown claims to have witnessed it happening with others, believing he wouldn’t ever experience it, and then says he suffered his own shrinking of job duties after supporting a fellow writer’s pay dispute.
- The showrunner was accused of dropping a staff member between seasons based on a Season 2 conversation the former employee had in private with another writer and an actress on the show about the latter’s 1960s Dallas storyline. It’s claimed that Blackman was extremely angry to hear that others were discussing story changes without him.
- Blackman is accused of using his past as a defense attorney to talk his way out of complaints and blame sudden staff changes on budgeting and scheduling concerns.
- Writers say that Blackman often took credit for others’ work, whether through asking non-writers to submit ideas under the guise of potential advancements, or by flatly attaching his name to others’ scripts that he polished up.
In fact, one of the only complaints made against Steve Blackman that was readily acted upon involved his attempt to get a sole credit for the Season 4 finale from the WGA. The organization ruled against him, allowing that additional writers provided the necessary proof for one to get a “Story By” credit, and for three others to get a “teleplay by” credit.
While the representatives for the showrunner offered more specific denials for a selection of the more specific accusations, below is more of a boilerplate response to the claims as a whole:
Over six years and four seasons overseeing thousands of crew, actors, and writers, Steve Blackman led The Umbrella Academy to become a beloved series with devoted fans, enthralling stories, and a dedicated team making it all possible. These allegations from a handful of disgruntled employees are completely false and outrageous, and in no way reflect the collaborative, respectful, and successful working environment Mr. Blackman has cultivated.
As of this writing, Netflix reps have not commented on the matter, and no further actions or responses have been made by Steve Blackman and/or his team. For now, it appears as if The Umbrella Academy's fourth season will debut as planned, but what about the executive producer's highly anticipated video game adaptation?
What’s Happening With Netflix’s Horizon Zero Dawn Adaptation?
Back in August 2022, two months after The Umbrella Academy's acclaimed third season was released, Netflix renewed its overall creative deal with Steve Blackman, with two major project developments spinning out of that news: an International Space Station drama titled Orbit, and a live-action adaptation of Sony and Guerrilla Games’ action RPG Horizon Zero Dawn.
Rumors had spread months prior that Netflix was developing a series based on the game, with the idea that the main character Aloy would be one of the series’ leads as well. So fans were obviously hyped up about it, though at the time, Netflix’s penchant for canceling shows after a single season weighed down on the excitement.
Not much news spread for the next year and a half or so (with the PlayStation franchise releasing the third game, Horizon Call of the Mountain in February 2023), but at the 2024 CES in January, Sony confirmed that the writing process had begun for Horizon Zero Dawn along with writing for the upcoming God of War TV show. It wasn’t specified which other writers were tasked with joining Blackman’s writers room.
At some point around that time, Steve Blackman’s production company Irish Cowboy updated its website to include the Horizon adaptation, with Michelle Lovretta noted as being a co-creator. Here’s the current synopsis for the show:
HORIZON ZERO DAWN is an epic sci-fi adventure series set a thousand years in the future, in a strange and beautiful world full of primitive tribes and high-tech machines, all built on the bones of the ‘Old Ones,’ the ruins of our present-day United States. The disaster that destroyed our world is long forgotten, but when these formerly peaceful machines turn into dangerous hunters of all life, a young outcast named Aloy discovers that the only chance to save her world is to fight to uncover what happened to ours. HORIZON ZERO DAWN is a new kind of post-apocalyptic story, where mankind's quest for survival and tenacious spirit gives hope that we can rectify the tragic mistakes of our past.
Can everyone with a Netflix subscription still look forward to seeing Horizon Zero Dawn's adaptation one day? Probably so, at least at this point, since most of the accusations made against Blackman were already looked into. That said, if Netflix execs grow wary that this negative publicity will hurt the show's chances down the line, other decisions could be made.
Until then, keep those hopes about Aloy alive, and head to our 2024 TV schedule to see what else will be popping up on the small screen in the near future.
