The Umbrella Academy avoided Luther's comic storyline in season 2 due to Avengers: Endgame's Fat Thor. The Umbrella Academy premiered on Netflix last year, immediately becoming one of the most-watched TV shows on the streaming service and garnering a massive fan base. Based on the superhero comic series by Gerard Way, the show follows the Hargreeves, a group of adopted siblings all born on the same day with mysterious powers. When they reunite as adults after their father dies, the powerful siblings learn they must band together to stop an apocalypse. Following the success of season 1, Netflix released the show's highly anticipated second season this past weekend.
The new season picks up after season 1's major cliffhanger that saw the Hargreeves family traveling back in time to the 1960s. Now stuck in the early 1960's Dallas, the students of the Umbrella Academy find themselves facing new conflicts mixed with real events in history, like the Kennedy Assassination. Like many TV adaptations do after the first season, The Umbrella Academy strays from its source material more in season 2. While season 2 is adapted from The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, volume 2 of the comic series, most of the characters' storylines go in different directions in the show. Luther, played by Tom Hopper in the series, possesses super strength and enhanced durability, but often has a hard time coping with his problems. Following Vanya's (Ellen Page) destruction in the first comic volume, Luther becomes depressed and morbidly obese as a result of overeating. However, Luther doesn't have much of a physical change in season 2.
Hopper told Den of Geek that the show avoided the comics' 'Fat Luther' storyline due to Endgame's Fat Thor. While season 2 implies Luther's new appreciation for food, it won't see the same physical transformation that Luther had in the comics. "There's certainly a nod to that in this season," Hopper said. "There was a question mark over the fact that Thor did the whole thing already [in Avengers: Endgame]." Luther's dramatic weight gain would have required the character to wear a fat-suit or prosthetics, which would have a striking similarity to Thor's transformation in the Marvel movie.
In the conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe' Infinity Saga, Chris Hemsworth's Thor is revealed to have gone through a dramatic physical change after the events of Infinity War. Dubbed as 'Fat Thor,' the once strong and powerful God of Thunder is now a lazy, unkempt, and overweight guy with no motivation, reflecting the depression he has suffered over the past five years. In the film, Hemsworth wears a prosthetic suit to sell the character's transformation. While the Fat Thor reveal was met with laughter in most theaters, it was also criticized by many for making light of depression and weight gain.
With The Umbrella Academy's season 2 following not too far behind Endgame, it's not hard to understand why the show's creators didn't want to lean into the 'strong and fit guy becoming overweight' storyline too much. While the series does still nod to the comics with Luther's eating, fans might agree with the show's decision not to change his physical appearance, especially after the negative reception Fat Thor received.
Source: Den of Geek