One timeline may have ended for The Umbrella Academy with the release of Season 4 of the series, but another lives on for fans of the Hargreeves family. We’re talking about Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s Dark Horse graphic novels, of course, on which the entire world, lore, and characters of the TV show are based.
Both Way, the creator of the comics and My Chemical Romance front man, and Bá, the illustrator, attended the Aug. 5 premiere in Hollywood at the Egyptian Theatre to celebrate the series ending. They got to see firsthand the impact The Umbrella Academy has had on fans, many of whom were screaming outside the theater any time they got a glimpse of the cast. “It’s beautiful,” Way told Tudum at the premiere.
Bá, who flew in from Brazil, was blown away by the sheer scale of the event, which is “so different from making a comic book,” he told Tudum. Back home, he works with Way online, and they speak often, “but to come here and be part of the celebration, it’s a really special feeling, and I’m really enjoying it.”
Both Way and Bá are hard at work on the next volume of The Umbrella Academy comic, which obviously has some overlap with the TV series but is also its own entity. For example, how will they tackle the Jennifer Incident? “They’re going to do something slightly different in their graphic novel,” series showrunner Steve Blackman previously told Tudum. “But they were very gracious and said, ‘Go do your thing and we’re going to do our thing. Our graphic novel will continue past the show.’ ”
Below, Way and Bá share what they’ll miss most about The Umbrella Academy TV series, what fans can expect from the next graphic novel volume, and how it feels to feature a My Chemical Romance song in the Season 4 trailer.
What does it mean to you to be here tonight celebrating this show that’s based on characters and a world you created?
Gerard Way: Oh, man. It’s really cool. I’m really proud of everybody’s hard work and how much they cared about the world. My goal was always just [to] try to make a really great comic so they could have fun with it. I think they have. And I dig that.
Is there anything from the comic that was in the show that was so amazing for you to see on-screen the first time?
Way: Seeing Pogo [Ken Hall and Adam Godley] was really cool. Hazel [Cameron Britton] and Cha-Cha [Mary J. Blige] with the masks. I really love what they did with the source material in Dallas. I thought that was really cool, you know?
Gabriel Bá: Number Five [Aidan Gallagher] in general. It’s a great character and it’s very close to the [comic]. And Pogo — Pogo is my proudest character in the show to have, even if it’s just a few seconds, a few scenes here and there. Every time he appears, I’m proud because I know the effort it is to put him there, and I love having him there.
Gerard, were you excited to see your name as one of the reviewers of Viktor’s book, My Extraordinary Life, in Season 1?
Way: Oh, yes. That was really cool. It’s so far back now.
And the name of the book Sloane [Genesis Rodriguez] is reading, The Jetset Life, is pulled from your band’s song, “The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You.”
Way: Yes. I like the cool little things they put in there like [that]. It was fun.
So, how will the show impact your next volume of the comic?
Way: One of the things I think is really cool, is being very aware that the show happened and existed. So we’re actually going to do some pretty radical things in terms of where to take it after this next volume. That way, it’s not just the comic version of what you’re seeing right now. Gabriel had [some] really amazing ideas. It’ll feel very new for everybody.
Bá: [The show] impacts it in different ways. There’s the matter of, I would call it the texture of the images, because in the show all the costumes and all the backgrounds, the sets, there is so much detail in them that it changed the way I look into backgrounds and costumes and materials and how they would translate. Sometimes I even have to take a step back because what I’m doing is a drawing and it has to work as a drawing, so I shouldn’t be worried about the fabric of a suit, for example. But it really changed the way I look into these details.
That’s awesome. Because they’re two separate things that coalesce into one fandom.
Way: Yeah, of course. And there’s always a thing where you’re like, “OK, well for the next volume they’re going to see what the origin point for Sparrow Academy was and how different it is.” But then past that, it’s kind of like, “Well, let’s not just keep doing that every volume. Let’s do something very different. And make it fun.”
Steve Blackman shared his theory with Tudum that Grace [Jordan Claire Robbins] helped all the kids pick their names.
Way: Yes, that is true.
For you, is Five Five’s real name?
Way: Yes. Five was basically like, “Fuck you” [when it came to picking a name]. That’s the way it was in the comic, even though you haven’t seen it yet.
What will you miss most about the show and this whole experience?
Way: Honestly, I really loved just all their enthusiasm. It’s a great group of people and they have fun. And because I was never standing in the way of that — on purpose, it was a choice — it got to grow into this beautiful thing that was its own thing.
Is there any fan interaction that’s stuck out to you over the years?
Way: Definitely. Early on in Comic Cons and over the years, cosplay is always super fun to see. Most cosplays I would see were people dressed in the school uniform, which was always really cool. But then there were a lot of really good Klauses over the years. Even before the show, so that’s always fun.
Is there anything you want to say to the fans?
Way: I mean, honestly, it’s a gift to be able to make art and for people to support it so you can keep making it. I never take that for granted.
Yeah. It was such a kick seeing your My Chemical Romance song “The End” in the trailer for Season 4, too.
Way: Oh yeah, the band! We’d never thought a My Chem song would be in an Umbrella thing, but we were all very excited actually, because nobody had ever asked for that song. And we had actually always felt it would be really good in the trailer. So the fact they asked for that song and not “Black Parade” was really cool.
Wow, it’s like it was meant to be.
Way: I think so, yeah. [After watching the trailer,] I was like, “Whoa, this looks really good!”
Witness My Chemical Romance and The Umbrella Academy merge timelines in the Season 4 trailer below. And relive every timeline with the Brellies anytime, only on Netflix.
