The Umbrella Academy was full of little details either referencing the source material or foreshadowing some big moments, and among those was a detail regarding Ben’s clothes that reflected the evolution of Klaus’ powers. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy made its debut on Netflix in February 2019. The series was a big success, even surpassing one of Netflix’s most popular and beloved titles.
The Umbrella Academy follows the dysfunctional family of adopted siblings, the Hargreeves. All seven of them, along with other 36 babies, were born on the same day, at the same time, and under the same mysterious circumstances, as none of their mothers were pregnant when the day began. Eccentric scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves decided to adopt as many of those kids as he could, and ended up adopting only seven of them. As they began to develop unique sets of superpowers, he trained them and formed a team of superheroes called “the Umbrella Academy”. Reginald wasn’t a good father, and the Hargreeves ended up going on their own ways. Sadly, not all the siblings were able to handle superhero life and their own demons, and Ben (a.k.a. Six) passed away.
Ben, also known as “the Horror”, had the ability to summon tentacled horrors from his body, something he (understandably) didn’t like. Ben died before the events of season 1, but he continued to be present thanks to Klaus. Also known as “the Séance”, Klaus has the power to communicate with the dead and temporarily make them corporeal, which allows him to have Ben by his side. By the end of The Umbrella Academy season 1, Ben went from a “ghostly” appearance to a full manifestation, even being able to summon the horrors to help his siblings. Fans have pointed out how as the season progresses Ben begins to look clearer and clearer (even casting a shadow at some point), but there’s another detail that shows the evolution of Klaus’ powers.
Ben appears with the same clothes all the time as the dead manifest in the clothes and look they were sporting when they died (which has raised a lot of questions about how Ben died). Ben wears dark clothes, most notably a hoodie, which happens to change throughout the season as Klaus’ powers grow stronger. Ben’s outfit starts as all black, and as Klaus’ powers begin to strengthen and Ben becomes more corporeal, more color comes back to his clothes. It’s a subtle detail and one that can be easily missed, but it’s an interesting piece of foreshadowing.
By the end of season 1, all the Hargreeves siblings jumped back in time to save themselves from the apocalypse, and one of the biggest questions for season 2 is how this jump will affect Ben – will he continue to be a manifestation brought by Klaus or will he become more corporeal on his own? What’s for sure is that viewers will have to pay extra attention when The Umbrella Academy season 2 arrives, as there will surely be more hidden and subtle details all over it, just like the changes in Ben’s clothes.