Netflix's Umbrella Academy has a healthy amount of violence in the course of the show, but one specific Allison scene from the comics is sure to never make its way to an episode on the streaming service. Umbrella Academy was lauded for its adaptation of Gerard Way's comic, as it balanced changing the source material with keeping the same distinct tone of the original. This meant many scenes were altered, moved around, or entirely cut in order to make sure that Netflix's finished product was comparable - but not identical - to its brethren on the inked page.
Naturally, this also meant specific decisions were made, such as removing much of the actual bloodshed in the comic, or at least toning it down in the scenes where it was prior in full gory illustrations. Weirdly, the show did also add a specific scene of blood and violence when Five kills the entire of the Commission board in Umbrella Academy season 2 episode 7 - suggesting that the issue wasn't the blood itself, but rather the quantity of it, and how much of the violence was directly shown on screen. With this in mind, there is one particular scene from the Umbrella Academy's collective childhood that has little chance of ever being adapted for the show itself, despite Netflix's version having an episode it could have taken place during.
During Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #3, the reader is shown a short glimpse into the adventures fighting crime that the Academy got up to during their youth - much like the similar scene shown in Umbrella Academy episode 1. The crucial difference, however, is that while the show has the team carrying out countless beatdowns (and possibly a murder on Ben's part), the comic has the cast face off against the villainous Dr. Terminal, shown with a constant and insatiable hunger that is the result of a device embedded in him that converts matter into energy. This hunger is shown in perhaps its darkest possible form, as the scene then cuts to reveal Dr. terminal has eaten Allison's left arm, quickly demolishing any sense of whimsy seeing child superheroes could create. Though Netflix's Umbrella Academy didn't shy away from showing the technically-13-year-old Five carry out serious violence, it seems a safe bet to assume their policy on showing such violence happening to a child is a different scenario.
This has the potential to also create another change in the show from the comics down the line, as Ben's death in the Umbrella Academy does appear to have taken place when the team were still children - so if that too is a bloody fate, chances are it will similarly be cut from the show. Indeed, both of these decisions are likely a good idea, as the general gist of them - that superheroes shouldn't also be children because of what the job entails, and that Reginald is a terrible, terrible father - have still been put across without the use of any of this imagery.
While removing scenes like this does certainly change the Umbrella Academy compared to its source material, the finished product still carries all the same messages and kinds of moments as the original, likely helped by the fact that Gerard Way served as an executive producer for the show. In fact, these alterations are part of what makes the Umbrella Academy special - as it is a unique experience even for those who had read the entirety of the comic's run thus far.
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June 28, 2021 at 12:23AM
