The events of The Umbrella Academy season 2 could make way for the return of Harold Jenkins, the villain from season 1 – here’s how. Based on the comic book series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy was released on Netflix in February 2019 and was very well received by critics and viewers, and so it was renewed for a second season a few weeks later – and season 2 arrived with a lot of surprises and big reveals.
The Umbrella Academy follows the 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 none of their mothers were pregnant when the day began. Billionaire scientist Sir Reginal Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could and got seven, who he trained after they developed unique superpowers and formed the team called “The Umbrella Academy”. The Hargreeves ended up parting ways, and reunited years later for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the fast-approaching apocalypse. What they weren’t counting on, was their supposedly powerless sister being the cause of the end of the world, and though they failed to stop it, they were able to save themselves by jumping through time to a safer place.
Season 2 reunited viewers with the Hargreeves in Dallas, Texas, but they were scattered between 1960 and 1963, and brought the apocalypse with them. The team was able to prevent the end of the world, but in the process, they created a new timeline, and when they returned to 2019, they found out that Reginald was still alive and he trained a different team: the Sparrow Academy. A new timeline means many changes, including people – like Reginald – who are most likely still alive, among those Harold Jenkins a.k.a. Leonard Peabody. Harold was key in triggering the apocalypse, as he was the one who made Vanya realize she has powers and pitted her against her siblings. Of course, Harold had no place in The Umbrella Academy season 2, but the new timeline opens up the possibility of him returning in season 3, with his obsessions only changing a little bit.
With no end of the world in this version of 2019, Vanya never met Leonard, so he’s still around and most likely still has the same feelings towards Reginald’s team. Harold was also born on October 1, 1989, but his mother had a completely normal pregnancy. What wasn’t normal in Harold’s life was his upbringing, as his mother died during childbirth, which turned his father into an abusive alcoholic. Harold was sure he should be part of the Umbrella Academy as he was born on the same day, but there was nothing extraordinary about him, and Reginald humiliated him in public. This only fueled his obsession with being part of the team, which drove him to kill his father and prepare a plan to break the team – and then he found out about Vanya. Now, the Umbrella Academy as it was known in the first season doesn’t really exist in this new timeline (except for the presence of the old Hargreeves), which means Harold grew up knowing the Sparrow Academy as that team of superheroes born on the same day as he. Harold’s new obsession could be this team, but if Reginald learned anything, he won’t be suppressing the powers of any of these kids, so Harold’s plans could be different.
In the comics, Leonard Peabody is known as The Conductor, and is also the one responsible for triggering Vanya’s powers and with that the end of the world. The Conductor never romances Vanya as Harold did in the show, and instead makes her an offer to unlock her powers if she takes part in the performance of his masterpiece, known as “The Apocalypse Suite”, made with the purpose of destroying the world. Harold could be more like his counterpart in the comic books and make one of the Sparrow members an interesting offer that will trigger major conflict not only within that team but also with the Umbrella Academy.
A new timeline opens up a variety of possibilities for a third season of The Umbrella Academy, and as the show has taken a lot of creative liberties, only taking characters and basic concepts from the comic books, Harold Jenkins/Leonard Peabody could easily make his way back in a way that doesn’t feel forced or too fantastic, like suddenly coming back from the dead.