The Umbrella Academy will have a lot to fix and face in season 3, but after everything that happened in season 2, including the reveal of the Sparrow Academy, the original Academy might become the bad guys. Created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy debuted on Netflix in February 2019 and was an instant hit, surpassing one of the streaming giant’s most popular series. The Umbrella Academy was renewed for a second season a couple of weeks later, and it arrived in July 2020.
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 their mothers weren’t pregnant when the day began. After hearing about this curious event, scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of those kids as he could and got seven of them. Each kid developed extraordinary abilities, so Reginald trained them and formed the superhero group known as the “Umbrella Academy”. The siblings ended up parting ways, and after not seeing nor talking to each other for years, they reunited for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the apocalypse, which turned out to be triggered by their supposedly powerless sister, Vanya (Ellen Page). Sadly, the end of the world couldn’t be stopped, and their only way out was jumping to a safer place and point in time.
This was possible thanks to the powers of Five (Aidan Gallagher), but as he had never made a jump with five (or six, counting Ben) other people, they ended up in Dallas, Texas, scattered between 1960 and 1963. Season 2 saw their efforts to reunite and stop a new apocalypse, which they successfully prevented this time – but they also made a lot of changes to the timeline, and when they returned to 2019, they found out that the Umbrella Academy doesn’t exist, and instead there’s a Sparrow Academy. Little is known about this team, except that Ben (who is alive and well in this timeline) is the leader and they are not a very welcoming bunch. However, the Sparrow Academy might not be the threat to defeat in season 3, and the bad guys will be none other than the Umbrella Academy team.
The Sparrow Academy Are Not The Bad Guys
The Sparrow Academy, just like the Umbrella team, were adopted and raised by Reginald Hargreeves, who is known for not being the best father figure. The Umbrella Academy were lucky to have Pogo and Grace, their robot mother built to keep them safe, who gave them the attention Reginald just wouldn’t give them. Still, the Hargreeves eventually had enough of Reginald’s ways and left the team. The Sparrow Academy, on the other hand, were raised only by Reginald, who is still alive in this timeline and the team is still together. As there were no signs of Pogo or Grace, for now it’s understood that Reginald was the only one in charge of the Sparrows.
With this in mind, it’s understandable that Ben is far from the one the Hargreeves knew and was pretty rude to the team of strangers that entered the house. This doesn’t mean that the Sparrows are bad guys, though they could learn some manners, but it's just that they had a very different upbringing than the Umbrella team, and, ultimately, are just one more group of victims of Reginald.
The Umbrella Academy Need To Fix Their Own Timeline
The Umbrella Academy messed with the timeline (big time), and the biggest consequence was the creation of the Sparrow Academy. With no home and many other differences to be revealed, the Umbrella Academy might try to fix the timeline, possibly through a time-heist, as Avengers: Endgame recently did. But if there’s something the Hargreeves should have learned from their experience in the 1960s is that every action, even the smallest one, will have an effect on the timeline and will inevitably change it. In their efforts to fix the timeline so they can have a present as close as the one in their original timeline (minus the end of the world, that is), the Umbrella team could completely erase the Sparrow Academy, meaning that Ben will be dead (again) and the fate of the rest – supposing they are not their 2019 doppelgängers – will be unknown.
To add more conflict to the mix, the Sparrow Academy could do the exact same and try to fix the timeline to their benefit, mostly to make sure that they won’t be erased as a result of the Umbrella Academy’s efforts. The two teams could clash across different points in time as they fight for their safety, but in the end, if the Umbrella Academy wins, the Sparrows will be destroyed.
Season 3 Makes The Umbrella Academy The Villains
The Umbrella Academy comic books have some weird and colorful villains that can be adapted to the series, but season 3 could go with a big twist and make the title team the villains. Of course, they wouldn’t be the traditional type of villain, nor the eccentric type from the comics, but more like unintentional bad guys. As mentioned above, the Hargreeves will surely look into fixing the timeline, and the biggest consequence would be the destruction of the Sparrow Academy. The latter team would realize this at some point and do what they can to make sure their timeline is not affected, but the Umbrella Academy members are not exactly the easiest bunch to reason with. The Hargreeves’ impulsiveness and selfishness will play against them in season 3, and instead of being the team who saves those in need, they will be the ones responsible for more catastrophes.
The Umbrella Academy has already done many things different from the comic books, so at this point, anything can happen in season 3, but the real enemy might not be Harlan nor the Sparrows (who are the most obvious assumptions), or even Reginald, but the original team as a result of their frustration for everything they caused in season 2.