With the TV adaptation of The Umbrella Academy set to hit Netflix next month, creator Gerard Way has teased that he is already looking to the future of the comic book series.
The former My Chemical Romance frontman began writing the graphic novel The Umbrella Academy a year after the release of the seminal ‘The Black Parade’. It tells the tale of a group of kids – Spaceboy, the Kraken, the Rumor, the Séance, Number Five, the Horror, and the White Violin – born within 24 hours to women who weren’t even pregnant when they woke up.
The “gifted” young people are adopted by billionaire Reginald Hargreeves as children, who aimed to hone their powers until they were strong enough to save the world. Hargreeves is suddenly found dead and the heroes must come together to investigate his death.
The show will arrive on Netflix on February 15, 2019, and will star Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, David Castañeda, Aidan Gallagher, Cameron Britton, and Mary J. Blige.
Now, Way has revealed that there are ‘future series’ of the comic book already planned.
“What I did for Steve Blackman (the showrunner) and the writers in that first writers’ room was to create an 18-page document that laid everything out,” Way told Collider. “Even of the graphic novels that haven’t come out yet. Which should equal eight when we’re all done. So I gave them the blueprint for what happens because you do want to seed certain things in there for future series and the hope is that it’s a success so that you do a lot more of these.
“They’re very curious what Gabriel [Ba, illustrator] and I are doing next. We always send them the new comics. They really want to know what’s happening.”
Check out the first cast photos and posters for the series here.
While teasing a ‘heavy’ new song called ‘I Am The Hag‘ earlier this month, Way revealed that he and Ba now plan to have three month gaps between each new volume of The Umbrella Academy – with eight planned in total.
With a new solo album in the horizon, Way shared his collaborative track with former bandmate Ray Toro ‘Getting Down The Germs’ back in November. In October, he shared spooky single ‘Baby You’re A Haunted House’.