Comic-based projects have become huge successes on the big screen and small screen alike in recent years. Netflix is the home of a number of original series inspired by comics, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and soon, The Defenders. As it turns out, however, Netflix is looking to branch out from Marvel in a big way with a brand new comic-based project. The new show will be called The Umbrella Academy, based on the comic series of the same name.
The Umbrella Academy show will follow the estranged members of a family, but it won't be just any old family. No, this family will be comprised of superheroes who grew up, honing their various abilities together. While the death of their father under mysterious circumstances brings most of them together, they may not be able to work as a team for too long. Their personalities and powers are too different for there to be much harmony between them, especially after going a long time without spending time together. The superheroes will be comprised of The Monocle, Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumor, The Seance, Number Five, The Horror, and The White Violin.
Netflix ordered The Umbrella Academy straight to series. The first season will run for ten episodes, and it will debut at some point in 2018. The Dark Horse comic series that inspired the show was written by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The universe was introduced to readers back in September 2007 when the very first Umbrella Academy comic was released. By February 2008, a full limited series of six issues had been completed. Another limited series was released in late 2008, and there are still plenty of stories that can be told.
Interestingly, a feature film based on The Umbrella Academy was in the works back in 2011, with Dodgeball director Rawson Thurber attached to write an adaptation of the comic. The movie obviously never happened, but there was another attempt to get an Umbrella Academy adaptation produced for viewers. Universal Cable Productions had a TV project based on The Umbrella Academy in the works in 2015. Now, it seems that we'll finally get to see the characters of The Umbrella Academy on the small screen.
Fans of the source material were probably disappointed back when the earlier movie and TV projects never came to anything, but it might be for the best that The Umbrella Academy was saved for Netflix. The Marvel shows prove that Netflix knows how to produce a solid comic TV show, and the order for a full season ahead of time means that we don't have to worry about the show being cut short in the middle of an arc. For better or for worse, we're getting a full season of ten episodes on Netflix in 2018.
For what you can stream on Netflix in 2017, we have a handy Netflix premiere guide that can point you where you want to go. Take a peek at our summer TV schedule for your non-Netflix choices.
