The Umbrella Academy has released its third season, following the catastrophic events of season 2. Following the adventures of a group of seven adopted infants, all of who possess extraordinary powers and have been given the duty of saving the world, the show continues to be full of interesting characters, be they heroes, villains, or somewhere in-between.
While each character in the popular series is unique, they do bear some similarities to Marvel Comics characters. Founded over 80 years ago, the mega comic incorporation has 17 films so far and doesn't seem close to slowing down. As a result, there is a rich cast of characters to explore, and that can be aligned as counterparts of The Umbrella Academy characters.
Sir Reginald Hargreeves - Hank Pym
Sir Reginald Hargreeves, also known as The Monocle, is a world-renowned scientist, entrepreneur, and adoptive dad of The Umbrella Academy. There's no better match for the adoptive dad figure than Hank Pym, a founding member of the Avengers Academy. Pym is a genius biochemist and engineer and like Sir Reginald, is responsible for bringing a team of young superheroes together.
Known to be exceedingly smart and very focused, the brilliant scientists prioritize their intellectual pursuits to save the world, sometimes above the emotional well-being of others. Both characters are known for their ingenuity, scientific pursuits, and diligence when it comes to their self-made families.
Klaus - Loki
The free-spirited individualist sibling, Klaus has the power to communicate with spirits and psychic abilities. His coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of his childhood is to live a life free of responsibility. When it comes to decisions, Klaus focuses on his personal feelings which sometimes causes him to make erratic choices. Ultimately though, he wants to do right by his family, especially his closest sibling Five.
Loki is a very powerful villain in Marvel Comics as well as spontaneous and dubious. He too deals with trauma, including finding out he is the adopted brother of Thor, which leads him to focus his energy on proving his worth. Loki was one of Marvel Comics' most selfish villains, only to have a change of heart and become a hero. Like Klaus, Loki gets caught up in his own values resulting in the outcome of his decisions ending badly.
Luther - Capitan America
Easily, the best Marvel Comics counterpart for Luther Hargreeves is the unfailingly dependable Captain America. Luther is a natural leader for his siblings and demonstrates equal parts righteous nature as does brute strength. He's associated with his protective nature for his family, ready to risk everything to save everything.
Captain America is dependable and loyal to almost everyone. His brawn may not compare to The Hulk's, but he does the heavy lifting when it comes to perceptive thinking. Both characters faced challenges that defined them as men respectively and made choices based on what they believed was right.
Diego - Human Torch
Diego is the telekinetic and rebellious brother of the Umbrella Academy siblings. Fans of Diego will recognize that beneath his confident, cocky behavior lies a deeply insecure individual. He very much wants to prove himself and protect those he loves, as seen when he tries to protect Patch and his robot mother Grace. Diego's best Marvel Comic counterpart is the similarly turbulent Human Torch.
Though Human Torch is not telekinetic, he's a hot-headed individual with a tendency to show off just as Diego does. Similarly, the Human Torch shows more seriousness when someone he deeply cares for is in danger. A big part of their significance in their respective universes lies within their relationships with others.
Allison - Blink
Allison Hargreeves is a skilled manipulator with the power to control people and reality with her voice, which can be shown hilariously in these Allison memes. Her nature comes off as confident and staunchly determined, but she deals with unresolved trauma. A lot of the close relationships and big successes in her life were built on manipulation due to her power, leaving her anxious about her integrity.
An early member of the X-Men, Marvel Comics fans may already know Blink. She is also confident and in times of triumph, very self-assured of her place in the mutant world. As a young mutant, Blink was captured and entombed as a test subject which manifested her powers of creating teleportation warps. Compared to Allison, she also had a traumatic past that has caused her to self-doubt and self-destruction.
Five - Namor
Number Five is the unofficial leader of the Umbrella Academy. Despite his youthful appearance, Five has the world-weary awareness of an old man, since he accidentally spent 45 years in the future by means of teleportation. Hyper intelligent, sarcastic, and incredibly proud, he shares a lot of traits with Marvel Comics character Namor.
A superhuman scion of a species of undersea men from Atlantis, Namor's most prominent personality trait is his ego and need to have the final word. He and Five both exhibit impulsive behavior due to their prideful nature, and both are incredibly efficient killers. Namor's extended lifespan and his involvement in numerous conflicts both under the sea and inhuman wars have granted him a great deal of experience and parallel the reason for Five's youthful appearance in the present, from being stuck in the future.
Ben- Richard Rider (Nova)
Despite his death, Ben remains on Earth to stay connected to his family and protect them from the danger he knows is coming. At his best, he is sensitive and supportive. At his worst, he can be sarcastic and insulting, holding little regard for himself and his ability to protect his family. The protective and energetic Nova is Ben's Marvel Comics match.
Richard Rider becomes Nova but at first, he is without much instruction on how to use his powers. He is a character who struggles with low self-esteem and tries to prove himself, often to a fault. Deeply caring for the well-being of others, Nova will put himself in danger if it means supporting others.
Viktor - Vision
Beginning the apocalypse, the soft-spoken Victor is the seventh sibling who is arguably the most powerful of the entire group. Viktor is a kind and deeply empathetic individual, but it sometimes seems as if he also represses deeper, more conflicted emotions. Trusting people is hard for Viktor, as expressed in one of his best quotes, as he has an anxious nature and hardly wants to be noticed.
Vision, the android Avenger faces challenges in establishing his morality. The analytical and acutely thoughtful, Vision, like Viktor, has trouble fitting in. He believes it’s important to protect human life, but he can also understand arguments against humanity as well. Both aim to only use their powers when absolutely necessary.
Harold Jenkins/Leonard Peabody - Mysterio
The main antagonist of the series' first season and Victor's love interest, Harold Jenkins was also born on the same day as the gifted siblings but only by sheer chance. Murderous, and manipulative, Harold pretends to be violin student Leonard Peabody, when he courts Victor and attempts to turn them against the rest of the Academy siblings.
Equal parts delusional and deceptive, Mysterio is the adversarial equal to Harold Jenkins. Neither possessing any powers, they both utilize their illusory skills to take advantage of any situation to satisfy their need to be accepted. Mysterio is intelligent and perceptive. Also like Jenkins urges Victor to turn against their true nature and hurt their family, Mysterio never holds back from trying to psychologically crush his enemy Spider-Man.
The Handler - Magneto
The Handler is calculating and manipulative. As a high-ranking member of the Temps Commission, an organization that oversees, and manages the space-time continuum. She genuinely believes she is doing the right thing even though it puts others in danger and only benefits herself. The Handler's match is none other than the complex Marvel Comics' Magneto.
Both The Handler and Magneto have clear agendas and are vengeful characters. Magneto is brash and guarded. Realizing the drastic measures he needs to take to protect mutants, Magneto leaves behind just morals and regard for the feelings of others. Murderous when they feel necessary, these two are a match made in villain heaven.