The cast breaks down all the biggest spoilers from season 2, including that shocking finale twist.
The Umbrella Academy has returned for another wild season about a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who once again reunite to prevent another apocalypse. After being teleported back in time at the end of season 1, Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Five (Aidan Gallagher), Ben (Justin H. Min) and Vanya (Ellen Page) find themselves scattered through time in 1960s Dallas, Texas, and eventually become intertwined with the conspiracy surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 as they try to find their estranged father, eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) and save the world.
Speaking with ET’s Katie Krause, the cast breaks down all the biggest spoilers from season 2, including that shocking finale twist. Warning: read on only after watching all of the series.
Luther and Allison’s Relationship
The jump back in time not only separated the adopted siblings, but led Allison to find love in an unexpected way. Audiences quickly learn that she married civil rights activist Raymond Chestnut (Yusuf Gatewood), seemingly putting an end to any hope of a reconciliation with Luther.
“I do think they will always have a strong connection,” Raver-Lampman says, adding that she’s “not upset if we move on from that narrative.”
Hopper agrees, saying, “The romantic element was sort of a season 1 thing and then it’s always going to be leaned on a little bit, especially with their connection. And the thing is -- me and Emmy always discuss this -- it’s so much more than a physical thing for them. It’s a deep relationship that they have because of their connection as kids, they so heavily rely on each other.”
That deep connection will always be there, but he says he doesn't think audiences will ever see them in a romantic place again.
Vanya and Sissy’s Romance
Like Allison, the time jump also allowed Vanya to explore a new relationship, this time with Sissy (Marin Ireland), a married woman and mother of an autistic child that takes her in while she recovers from amnesia. But despite having “fallen incredibly in love,” Sissy can’t go with Vanya back to the future, scared of what will happen to her and Harlan.
Page says their future remains unknown. “We see in the end she’s driving off, embracing a new life and embracing who she is and that’s the most beautiful thing to see,” she says. “I think we’ll just have to wait and see.”
And the fact that Harlan has absorbed some of Vanya’s powers wasn’t lost on Page, who says, “I would imagine we are probably going to see more of what that means at some point.”
The Sparrow Academy
Season 2 ends with Five transporting the Hargreeves siblings back to the future, in hopes of returning home -- and their correct timeline. Believing they successfully returned, the finale ends with the Hargreeves being confronted with the Sparrow Academy, a new group of sibling superheroes.
“Oh yeah, I think we all know that Five f**ked it up again,” Raver-Lampman says. “So here we are yet again, because yeah, we come home to not our home. So that's really unfortunate yet again.” Despite preventing another apocalypse, “we really messed up the timeline with all of our jumps and existence in the 1960s for years,” Gallagher adds.
But when it comes to the existence of a new academy, “their egos are gonna be bruised irrevocably,” Sheehan says of the Hargreeves. “There they were thinking they were this sort of unique band of snowflakes.”
Hopper adds, “It’s interesting. We don’t know if these kids are part of all the kids who were born the same day… We don’t know who they are.”
While the moment may be a big twist, especially to fans not familiar with the graphic novels, Castañeda reveals that creator Steve Blackman was always planning to introduce the Sparrows. “Sparrow Academy was something that was brought up to me at the first season gathering, before we even shot any single frame,” the actor shares.
The Return of Ben
Among the Sparrow Academy is Ben, who after spending most of his time as a ghost with Klaus in season 2, came to accept his death and pass over to the other side, seemingly marking an end to his story. But when the Hargreeves return (sans Ben), they discover he’s one new set of siblings in their home.
Trying to make sense of why Ben is there, Sheehan thinks everything the Hargreeves have done has resulted in a different history, referring to the shattered glass theory of multiple universes. “It is a universe and then an event occurs and doesn't occur which leads to the universe split into a distorted mirror of itself,” he says, adding that the event that resulted in Ben’s initial death didn’t happen. “Ben didn’t die because there he is, a sack of flesh with a trendy new haircut.”
But the big question remains, is this the same Ben the Hargreeves grew up with? “I think it is Ben,” Hopper says, before adding: “I had this thought as well, he may not be called Ben, because it depends on whether Mom called him the same name in our world.”
Meanwhile, Hopper muses that this is the same Ben but he “is more powerful in this world. He’s got more balls about him. He’s not as soft as he was in our world.”
The truth about Ben, however, may come down to what Min thinks about his character’s unexpected return. “It is really exciting, obviously, to be alive but also to be able to sort of create a brand new persona and character because this is not the Ben that we know,” he confirms. “It's a completely different version of that person.”
Reginald Hargreeves Is Now Alive
The Netflix series initially kicks off with the death of the Hargreeves’ adopted father, Reginald, forcing the estranged siblings to reunite for the first time in years. But after the time jump at the end of season 2, Reginald is alive, seen with the Sparrow Academy.
In the past, it was also revealed (or confirmed) that Reginald is an alien, after he unmasks his face. “He always was from the comic book. I mean, from the first page of the first episode of the comic book, he was ‘Reginald Hargreeves, industrialist, billionaire, space alien,’” Sheehan says, adding that he didn’t think they were going to be that literal with the alien reveal. “But I go, ‘Yeah baby. We got this nice audience, now lets camp it up. Lets go a bit graphic novel, you know what I mean?’”
But him being alive and his alien past just opens the door for more to explore in a third season -- if the series gets renewed. “That's where I'm like, ‘[We’re] getting at least maybe season 3, right?’ They'll probably dive into that more,” Castañeda wonders, while Gallagher adds, “I would say that mystery is always enticing. So they'll probably hide a lot more than they show.”
Hopes for Season 3
While audiences wait to find out if the series will return for another installment, the actors share what a new season would mean for them and their characters.
Hopper says he’d like to get to work with Sheehan as well as his other co-stars on a more intimate level. “I didn't have many scenes with Klaus last season,” he notes. “We had some really great moments in season 1. I want to make sure that you get your time with every character. I really enjoy those individual moments and those scenes with the individual characters. So, I'd like to make sure that I get time with each character. I think that's one of the beauties of the show, seeing all of the different dynamics between each of them. You know, I've really enjoyed having those scenes with Vanya because there was a lot of regret with what Luther had with Vanya, a lot of guilt. But I think he’s extra protective of her now because of that. And it was nice to see that in those scenes.”
“I would be really interested in Allison going on a journey kind of by herself. I think in two seasons of the show she's had three love interests and I think I would be interested in an Allison that is finding independence, kind of by herself and isn't caught up in some kind of romantic entanglements or marriage,” Raver-Lampman says. “I'm just interested to see what version of Allison that is.”
And now that their characters have ended up back in the main timeline, she wants to know what happened to her daughter, Claire. “Where's Claire?” she asks. “I would really love to dive into the motherhood side of Allison. You kind of got a glimpse of it in season 1, but I would really love to kind of see what that is and to see where that would go.”
For Page, she’s “just excited to play Vanya and getting more and more badass, more comfortable with who she is... Maybe more of a leader in many ways. I'm really looking forward to that.”
The Umbrella Academy season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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