The world is in trouble once again with The Umbrella Academy season 3. The Netflix superhero drama is based on Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's graphic novels of the same name centered on a dysfunctional family of adopted superheroes navigating their familial relationships in the wake of their dad's death and in the face of various apocalypses. The series follows the Umbrellas as they find themselves in a variety of bizarre timelines thanks to the time traveling capabilities of the youngest and oldest sibling Five.
Robert Sheehan stars in The Umbrella Academy as Klaus, a flamboyant drug and alcohol addict who can communicate with the dead, though primarily uses his abilities to talk with his late brother Ben. Tom Hopper stars as Luther, considered the team leader who was injected with a serum by his father than turned his upper body into a human-ape hybrid after he was severely injured on a mission.
Ahead of its premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Robert Sheehan and Tom Hopper to discuss The Umbrella Academy season 3, Klaus and Luther's characters arcs, the potential of a Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City sequel and more.
Screen Rant: I've been a fan of the show since it started, and The Umbrella Academy season 3 just continues to be an absolute treat. Robert, one of the cool things about this season was that we could see more of Klaus really embracing his powers. What was that like for you?
Robert Sheehan: Oh, very meaty; plenty to get your teeth into. I suppose really exploring the powers for Klaus is exploring and nurturing his relationship with his father, is what it comes down to. It was good that Klaus finally has a reason and a motive for a cornering, atypically tranquil version of our father. I think his timing is fortunate, because he's able to teach Hargreeves something and that kind of puts them on a little bit more of a level playing field. It was lovely, it was really nice.
I had my own little storyline, plenty of days off. [Laughs] And fun scenes with Colm Feore [to] mess around, lots of variation; got to sit and eat cereal and watch William Shatner in some TV show — what's it called, TJ Hooker. It was lovely stuff, it was really fun stuff to get to go to work for and play around.
Honestly, Colm Feore, all messing aside, is an absolute inspiration of a being. Incredibly hard working, great work ethic. Our scripts change, scenes might be cut or they might expand more often. You might get, as it happens in the lead up to the day of filming, replacement pages to slot into your episode, so the pages go from white to blue to green to pink to yellow sometimes.
That many small changes [happen], so that everybody's up to speed. Colm Feore, when he first gets the script, he writes out every word of his dialogue in a notepad, and then if the script dialogue changes in any way, he rewrites the scene again then goes back and writes the feelings that he's having as Hargreeves about the scenes.
Tom Hopper: As he's writing? Wow.
Robert Sheehan: He is like Reginald Hargreeves. He was born to play that role, so exploring Klaus' powers was really exploring the contents of Colm Feore's head. [Chuckles]
I like that, that's an interesting description. Tom, interestingly enough, I feel like this is one of the less physical seasons for Luther in comparison to before. What was that like for you?
Tom Hopper: Depend on what you mean by physical, Grant? [Laughs]
That's true. How about from an action perspective, let's say?
Tom Hopper: Depends on what kind of action you mean! [Laughs]
You got me again!
Tom Hopper: Yeah, I mean, it's so much more fun for me this year. I've loved delving into the traumatic side of Luther and the darker side of what he's gone through, but he lets go a lot of those hang ups this year. I really enjoy bringing this more fun side of him who's kind of let go and once he gets laid, he's like, "Oh, well, I could get used to this!"
And he falls in love, he properly, properly falls in love. I think it's a [new] side for me as an actor. I've never really done a proper love story like that before, so it was it was a new thing for me. It was a new challenge for me. Fortunately, Gen was an amazing partner to do that story with, and she's great. She's so much fun and brilliant as Sloane, I had a great time. It was a really nice transition for me to bring this side of Luther out.
Robert Sheehan: It's nice the way it took all the dropping of the pressure and the duty and things and suddenly, love comes.
Tom Hopper: Yeah, you let it go. Not as uptight.
Well, before I go, Tom, I'm a big Resident Evil fan, so I am curious, have you heard any rumblings about possibly coming back for another movie?
Tom Hopper: What I know is it was very successful in terms of on demand, a lot of people sat at home and watched it, so I think they're very happy over Constantin and Sony, all the guys who run that show. I certainly hope to go back and play Albert Wesker again, it ended in a way that I was like, "Oh, I can get used to this guy." Also, too, where he's going, I think he can be very interesting, so I certainly hope so.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Synopsis
After putting a stop to 1963’s doomsday, the Umbrella Academy return home to the present, convinced they prevented the initial apocalypse and fixed this godforsaken timeline once and for all. But after a brief moment of celebration, they realize things aren’t exactly (okay, not at all) how they left them. Enter the Sparrow Academy. Smart, stylish, and about as warm as a sea of icebergs, the Sparrows immediately clash with the Umbrellas in a violent face-off that turns out to be the least of everyone’s concerns.
Navigating challenges, losses, and surprises of their own – and dealing with an unidentified destructive entity wreaking havoc in the Universe (something they may have caused) — now all they need to do is convince Dad’s new and possibly better family to help them put right what their arrival made wrong. Will they find a way back to their pre-apocalyptic lives? Or is this new world about to reveal more than just a hiccup in the timeline?
Check out our other interviews with The Umbrella Academy stars Ritu Arya & Aidan Gallagher, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman & Justin H. Min, and showrunner Steve Blackman.
The Umbrella Academy season 3 is currently streaming on Netflix.