There's evidence that suggests the Ben from the Sparrow Academy isn't the original Ben featured in the first two seasons of The Umbrella Academy, but is actually a twin. Justin H. Min has played the deceased Hargreeves sibling since the series premiered in 2019. Based on the comic book series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy focuses on a group of super-powered adults who were once adopted and raised by a billionaire named Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Ben was one of the special children born on October 1, 1989, and adopted by Reginald as he formed a group of crime-fighters.
Sadly, Ben was killed during one of the Umbrella Academy's missions before the group reached adulthood. Because of Klaus' powers of communicating with the dead, Ben continued to appear a character in the series as a ghost. Ben's ghost was "killed" in season 2, but an alternate timeline version of him returned in the installment's final episode. After the other Hargreeves siblings got back from 1963, they found a transformed 2019 where their father was still alive and, instead of the Umbrella Academy, Reginald had created the Sparrow Academy. Among the members was Ben, who was revealed to be alive in the new timeline - or so viewers were led to believe.
While the obvious implication is that Ben survived in the altered timeline, there's also a chance that the character Min is playing in that final scene isn't Ben at all. Reginald adopted seven special children born on October 1, 1989, but there was a total of 43 babies that arrived that day under odd circumstances. The billionaire originally adopted and raised Ben as a member of the Umbrella Academy, but perhaps Ben's mother had another baby boy that day. After meeting the Umbrella Academy in the '60s, Reginald wanted nothing to do with them. Maybe deep down, he knew the future would end on a dreadful note for Ben, so instead he adopted the twin brother. There's also another possibility: that Reginald adopted both twins.
The Umbrella Academy Comics Already Featured Twins
Just before the siblings realized that they entered an altered timeline, they noticed a picture of Ben hung over the mantle. In season 1, Number Five's picture resided in that spot to serve as a memorial after his disappearance. It seems unlikely that Reginald would have featured Ben in a picture if he was still alive and well, which could suggest that the character played by Min in the Sparrow Academy isn't supposed to be Ben. It's plausible that Ben was once a member alongside his twin, but he met a similar fate as his death in the original timeline. Interestingly enough, the concept of twins is prominent in The Umbrella Academy comic books.
While the Netflix series is based on the popular comic book series, many details and storylines have been omitted across the first two seasons. Among the biggest details that have been kept out of the TV adaptation is the fact that Luther and Number Five are twins in the comic book counterpart. The Umbrella Academy doesn't seem to be heading in that direction, but there's a chance that the series could use the twin concept for other characters - specifically, Ben and the mysterious Sparrow Academy version of Ben. With season 3 currently in the works, time will tell what the series has in store for Reginald's new group of crime-fighters.