The Umbrella Academy: Where Does Reginald Hargreeves Come From?

In just two seasons, The Umbrella Academy has left various mysteries, and many of them are related to Reginald Hargreeves, such as where exactly he comes from. The superhero genre has seen all types of stories so far, and the rise of this genre has also made way for other, lesser-known, and sometimes darker stories, as is the case of The Umbrella Academy. Created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy is a comic book series that made the jump to streaming thanks to Netflix in February 2019, quickly becoming one of the platform’s most popular titles.

The Umbrella Academy introduced the audience to the Hargreeves, seven adopted children who along with other 36 babies around the world were born on the same day, at the same time, and to women who weren’t pregnant when the day began. After hearing of this curious event, scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could, but he only got seven. As the kids developed superpowers, he trained them and formed the team “The Umbrella Academy." Reginald was a bad father, however, and the kids parted ways, only reuniting years later for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the apocalypse. Reginald, then, wasn’t around through much of The Umbrella Academy season 1, so fans were excited to learn more about him in season 2 when the team traveled back to the 1960s, but they were left with even more questions.

Reginald Hargreeves planned his death at the beginning of The Umbrella Academy season 1 in an attempt to bring his children together to stop the end of the world, so viewers only got to see him briefly in flashbacks and in Klaus’ (Robert Sheehan) quick trip to the afterlife. However, a flashback in The Umbrella Academy season 1 finale took viewers many years back to follow a young Reginald sharing an emotional moment with his dying wife, but, significantly, the scene isn’t set on Earth. Later, Reginald arrives in the United States, also many years ago, and buys an old umbrella manufacturer. This made way for many theories on where Reginald Hargreeves' really comes from, and the mystery only grew when The Umbrella Academy season 2 confirmed he’s not a human, but an alien.

Reginald Hargreeves Origins Explained

Sir Reginald Hargreeves Revealed Umbrella Academy

In The Umbrella Academy season 2, Reginald visited the Majestic 12 and revealed his true nature, killing everyone in the room. This only made the mystery of his origins even bigger, as it’s still unknown where exactly he comes from, and the comic books don’t provide an answer either. Although there’s no answer to the mystery of Reginald Hargreeves’ home planet, a theory suggests he led the other survivors to the moon, where they settled in a hidden community. This could be the reason Reginald Hargreeves sent Luther to the moon and why he got involved in the space race. It’s worth noting that the aforementioned flashback in The Umbrella Academy season 1 showed rockets leaving the planet Reginald and his wife were on, so this implies that there are other survivors from Reginald’s home planet somewhere, perhaps also on Earth. There’s a chance this big mystery around Reginald’s origins will be solved at some point, hopefully in The Umbrella Academy season 3.

On the other hand, as this big question hasn’t been answered in the comics, it’s also possible it will be one of those mysteries that will never be solved, adding to the mysticism of the series. The Umbrella Academy should address Reginald Hargreeves' alien origins at some point so viewers can really get to know him. As Reginald is clearly still alive and well in The Umbrella Academy season 3, there’s hope the question about his home planet will be addressed either in season 3 or beyond.

Will Umbrella Academy Season 3 Finally Reveal Viktor’s Origins?

Aside from Reginald Hargreeves, another character whose origins have been in question since the beginning of The Umbrella Academy season 1 is Number Seven, Viktor Hargreeves, played by Elliot Page. As the sibling with seemingly the most power, and so far the greatest capacity for destruction, Viktor's origins could be hiding crucial information that will steer the course of The Umbrella Academy season 3's story and beyond. Unfortunately, it could very well be that season 3 doesn't touch Viktor's origin story much, given that it's not elaborated on at all in the comics. At the same time, The Umbrella Academy's onscreen adaptation has already expressed willingness to make changes to the source material as needed, as illustrated by the show's incorporation into Viktor's season 3 story of Elliot Page's real-life transition. Viktor's character journey will already be a key component of The Umbrella Academy season 3's plot as a result, so working in more details about his origins may be easier than it seems.

Next: Umbrella Academy: Reginald Sabotaged The Team’s Powers - Theory Explained

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