The Umbrella Academy is rife with characters and plot lines that could be expanded into numerous spinoff series, and Netflix has made noise about making the show into a wider franchise. Steve Blackman, The Umbrella Academy's showrunner, has gone on record saying that he is open to the idea based on fan demand. "If there's an appetite," he said, "I think the actors would be up for it, we would all be up for it because we love working together." After The Umbrella Academy season 4, there is plenty of room to focus on smaller sets of characters.
The Umbrella Academy comic book series has already generated its own spinoffs with four short stories. Mon Dieu! features Five and Klaus, ...But the Past Ain't Through With You has Klaus, Allison, and Luther, Anywhere But Here shows Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Diego, and Vanya, and Safe & Sound featuring Diego. Dark Horse Comics has the right idea in digging deeper with these stories, and it looks like Netflix will follow suit. There is endless material to turn The Umbrella Academy into Netflix's biggest franchise yet by doing in-depth explorations of its characters.
Diego & Lila
Much could be done with a limited series of Diego and Lila. In The Umbrella Academy's season 2, they meet in a psychiatric facility and immediately form a bond. Their seemingly toxic relationship is somehow endearing, and the constant bickering and bantering don't disguise the fact that they care deeply for one another. With Lila being pregnant at the end of season 3, their story could go in many different directions. Diego, Lila, and Unnamed Child could venture off and live as a family who encounters a steady stream of literal comic book villains. Unnamed Child will have the powers of both parents and, in addition, she would have the power of moving back and forth in her aging, which would make her very useful to her parents as they all fend off bad guys.
The time on The Umbrella Academy that Diego and Lila spent in the psychiatric hospital could also be further explored. After their escape, they would have various adventures, as, all the while, they would be on the run from The Swedes.
Luther & Sloan
This Umbrella Academy couple deserves a happy ending, but happy endings don't make for good television. Believing that Sloan is dead, Luther would return to the moon, yet this time, there would be a defined threat of aliens from planets previously unknown wishing to co-opt earth for their purposes. Luther again becomes severely depressed on the moon. Five, in a cameo, shows up with Sloan. He'd figured out how to jump extremely long distances, and after locating Sloan in an alternate timeline (which may or may not initiate a new chaos), Five brings her to the moon to be with Luther. Together Luther and Sloan fight against the alien threat.
Five & The Commission
In season 3 of The Umbrella Academy, when Five has the shocking revelation that he was the Founder of the Commission, he meets a much older version of himself. This could lead to a spinoff in which Five, as the founder of the Commission, encounters many versions of himself from different timelines, some of whom are radically different from him. He may encounter Five the Dog or Five the Young Girl or Five the Talking Snake or Five the Sasquatch or Five the Sea Slug or Five the Tallest Man on Earth... Each of these scenarios would lead to confusion and conflict that Five has to resolve with the aid of Dolores, his mannequin who has acquired powers of her own.
Viktor & Sissy
An exploration of the 10-year gap in Viktor's story (or any of the Umbrellas for that matter) could be explored. His early years when Sir Reginald muted his powers, and the time he spent away from the Academy leave a lot of room for story arcs. Viktor could, in a different timeline, reunite with a Sissy who did not have cancer or an abusive husband in tow. Viktor could also enlist Klaus to aid him in restoring Sissy's son Harlan, who has powers similar to Viktor's. Viktor and Harlan could then team up to help neurodivergent and non-heterosexual people achieve justice.
Klaus & Ben
Klaus' sarcastic hedonism and strong tendency to self-medicate make him an interesting and somewhat tragic character. His relationship with Ben is relatively functional within the vastly dysfunctional Hargreeves family. In a The Umbrella Academy spinoff, Ben and Klaus could solve mysteries in which Ben's summoned octopus arms and Klaus' ability to interact with the dead are beneficial. The vibe could be supernatural detective stories, and would further show the viewer the relationship between Klaus and Ben.
Klaus Prequel Based OnYou Look Like Death
You Look Like Death is a comic-book spinoff that looks at Klaus' biggest drug binge. Set 10 years before The Umbrella Academy, Klaus has been kicked out of the family, and his allowance cut off. With a flamboyant bravado and bullheaded indifference that comes with being 18, he heads to Hollywood where he steals the drug stash of a vampire-chimp drug lord named Shivers and hijinks ensue.
In a Klaus prequel, after his adventures in Hollywood, Klaus would travel the world (Rio de Janiero, Monte Carlo, Katmandu, Casablanca, Hong Kong) in an effort to escape Shivers who has put a price on his head. Along the way, he'd get himself into trouble because that's what Klaus does.
Hazel & Cha Cha
Hazel and Cha Cha are the lethal timeline hitmen of The Commission. Dark Horse Comics has already created a one-off comic called "Hazel and Cha Cha Save Christmas," in which they fight against a plot to discredit Christmas. In an Umbrella Academy Netflix spinoff, they could continue their work in a timeline different from the one in which they died. They would then report to Five who would send them on oddball missions.
There are countless ways that Netflix could spin off from The Umbrella Academy. The seven Hargreeves children are interesting in their own right, and spinoff series' would further explore smaller groups of them. The Sparrows are not perhaps as well-known yet and wouldn't at this time warrant shows of their own, though in the future, stories involving a creative mix of Umbrella Academy siblings and those from the Sparrow Academy could be well worth watching. Netflix's success with its other spinoffs and hype surrounding yet-to-be released series such as Money Heist's Berlin and The Witcher's Witcher: Blood Origin, pave the way for The Umbrella Academy spinoffs to be wildly popular.