The Umbrella Academy fans might ‘hate’ season four’s ‘big ending’, says showrunner

The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman is prepared for some fans to “hate” season four.

After Viktor Hargreeves, played by Elliot Page, issued a stark warning in the last trailer for show’s final season, the end is truly nigh for the most dysfunctional family on Netflix.

After three seasons, there’s only one way out for the super-powered Hargreeves family: the Final Timeline. And that’s exactly where they’re headed in season four, but Blackman has revealed that he’s ready for not everyone to be thrilled by the show’s “most expensive episode” ever.

Speaking to Radio Times, Blackman said that while the reaction of fans is important, he knows he can’t please them all. “We went very big this season,” he said. “And I think the finale is our most expensive episode ever. It’s a very, very big ending.

“Fans will have thoughts on it. Some will love, some will maybe hate it and some will have opinions. I want to hear their opinions. I’m really proud of the ending. I think it’s the right ending. But where I’ve left it is subjective, and everyone [can] decide: is that the right ending for this family?

“[What the fans think] does matter to me a lot. I can’t make all of them happy. We’ll make decisions that some will love, some will hate.

“But I’m always thinking about the fans, the writers are always thinking about the fans. And we want to give them a great storyline, a wonderful, propulsive storyline with all the emotion. But we also want them to feel satisfied at the end of the day.”

The official synopsis of the season (and trailers) have teased that the siblings will spend season four “stripped of their powers” and, once again, fighting for their lives.

“The Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal, with wildly varying degrees of success,” fans have been told.

“Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long. Their father, Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire.

“A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings believing the reality they’re living in is a lie, and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure, to finally set things right,” the synopsis goes on to say.

The new season has already been somewhat overshadowed by allegations against Blackman, surrounding his on-set conduct, including claims of transphobia.

As part of a  Rolling Stone magazine investigation in June, 12 members of staff accused him of creating a toxic work environment.

Claims included that he had made inappropriate transphobic, homophobic and sexist remarks, and there were allegations of “toxic bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behaviour”, as well as taking credit for the work of junior employees, failing to renew a pregnant writer’s contract because she had not disclosed her pregnancy, and complaining about work involved in reflecting Page’s transition on screen.

Representatives for Blackman said the claims were “entirely untrue” and “absurd”, and an investigation carried out by production company Universal Content in spring 2023 largely cleared him.

The Umbrella Academy streams on Netflix from Thursday (8 August).