The Umbrella Academy

So it’s been a while since my last post. So much for spending this time at home writing more. Honestly since the craziness began, it’s been difficult at times and I haven’t felt as inspired to write as I normally do. I did plan on another album review a few weeks ago, but the album release was postponed until next month. Look for that in the coming weeks. However, I didn’t want another month to go by without making at least one post and the second season release of one of my favorite series on Netflix made for some perfect timing.

During my flight to Coachella last year, I began watching a Netflix series about a family of superheroes based on the comic book series of the same name created and written by My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way. The series is called The Umbrella Academy. Since watching the entire first season last spring, I’ve been anticipating season two. It filmed last year and was scheduled to debut this summer. Thankfully, even with the world wide crisis of 2020, it’s still coming out on time aka TOMORROW! You could actually say the second season of the series debuts at midnight tonight. I can’t wait to watch!

The story of The Umbrella Academy begins on October 1, 1989 when 43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously despite not showing any signs of pregnancy until labor. Seven of these children were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a very wealthy man, and turned into a team of superheroes called The Umbrella Academy. Each of the children are named as numbers by Hargreeves, but received regular names from their robot mother.

The series begins in present time and shows the current lives of the Hargreeves children, but routinely flashes backwards (and forwards because time travel is a part of the series) to tell the story of how the superheroes came to be. The story also develops to where the Hargreeves are headed, which seems to be certain doom. Without revealing any major spoilers, the first season ends with the apocalypse and the season that begins tonight should pick up with the Hargreeves going back in time to find out a way to stop the apocalypse from happening.

The Umbrella Academy is packed with an all-star cast of Tom Hopper as Number One/Luther, David Castañeda as Number Two/Diego, Emmy Raver-Lampman as Number Three/Allison, Robert Sheehan as Number Four/Klaus, Aidan Gallagher as Number Five, Justin H. Min as Number Six/Ben, and Ellen Page as Number Seven/Vanya. The cast also includes Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Kate Walsh, and Colm Feore among others. The series was created for Netflix by Steve Blackman and developed by Jeremy Slater. Gerard Way is also one of the executive producers of the series.

I’ve always been a fan of Sci-Fi/Fantasy films and television series involving superheroes and super powers from Marvel films to Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers so when I saw this series on Netflix before I left for Coachella last year, it was a no-brainer to download the first few episodes to watch. I watched every episode I downloaded on my way to California and downloaded the rest for my trip home, again watching each one. It’s kind of a bummer that I don’t have a flight to be on to binge watch the new season this time around, but I’m glad to have the free time to do it anyway. I went in blindly to season one, not knowing anything about the series aside from the fact that it looked pretty cool. The same is true for season two. I haven’t read any previews nor do I know what to expect. I’m just overall excited to watch the Hargreeves in action again after becoming a huge fan of The Umbrella Academy. I feel like I haven’t been hyped on many Netflix/TV series in a while except this one so if that says anything to how much I think you should check this show out, then take my word for it right now and check this show out. If you’re still sitting around with not much to do like I am, it’s worth a watch. Even if you’re busy, make some time this month because it’s sure to be an action packed second season.

So again….tonight! Midnight! Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy! Catch you on the stream!

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

When The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel in 2009, it began creating a bunch of projects incorporating the famed comic book company. Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and a sequel to Iron Man were some of the first movie releases post-Disney purchase. All the movies had one thing in common though. Each plot line included elements that foreshadowed a disaster that would take a union of earth’s mightiest heroes to fix. This also meant an epic blockbuster picture known as The Avengers. The Avengers, or the team made up of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, are a group of superheroes put together to save the world by an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), an FBI style agency that deals with super humans and any issues that may arise because of them. In the 2012 movie, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), united the Avengers to stop Thor’s adopted brother, Loki, from taking over earth, which they succeeded at. Of course in the meantime, there were some casualties. One in particular was S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who played an instrumental role in several of the Marvel films leading up to The Avengers. However, the “death” of Phil Coulson helped to set up Marvel’s prime time live action television series premiering on ABC a little over a year after the release of the epic super hero movie.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first aired in September 2013. It followed up on what happened to Agent Coulson (Gregg) after he supposedly died in the feature film. If you haven’t already guessed, he was brought back to life and the mystery of how eventually gets answered along the way. The series follows Coulson and his team, May (Ming-Na Wen), Ward (Brett Dalton), Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), and Skye (Chloe Bennet) as they face issues with people who have powers and with the terrorist organization, Hydra. At the end of the first season last May, Hydra had come full force at S.H.I.E.L.D. after being in a dormant state for so long with members of the deceptive terrorist group pretending to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The second season which premiered this past September saw the addition of some new agents to Coulson’s team (Hunter (Nick Blood), Mack (Henry Simmons), and Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki)) as the story continued with S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to rebuild itself and put an end to Hydra. The final episode of the show’s second season just aired Tuesday night with a possible foreshadowing of the rebuilding of Hydra under a new leader and a new mystery involving the Kree Stone that was introduced in Season 2. A third season will begin in September with a continuation of the where the second season left off as well as new trials and tribulations for S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Coulson and the members of his team.

I first started watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the date it initially aired in September 2013 (the night before I left for my first trip to California). I was a fan of The Avengers as well as Thor (Loki’s actually my favorite character…haters gonna hate), but I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy the Marvel TV series as much. There was no reason to be hesitant though because I was roped in from the start. After the first episode, I knew the series would be filled with action, excitement, and twists as the series progressed. I’ve followed the show ever since. It’s lived up to my expectations.

My favorite thing about the show is how it’s intertwined with the rest of the Marvel Universe. When a new Marvel film comes out (sequels to Thor and Captain America were released post-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debut, as well as an Avengers sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which came out 2 weeks ago), a small part of the show the week before the movie release and a small part the week after coincide with the film. It makes viewers want to go out to see the movie on opening weekend in case there’s anything important in the movie that relates to the show the following week or vice versa. Is it absolutely necessary to see all the movies? Probably not, but it helps. For instance, I’ve never seen any of the Captain America movies, nor do I plan on seeing them. When the latest one came out last April, the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should see it for the sake of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fortunately I have friends who are Marvel fans too who went to see it. I asked one of them if there was anything I needed to know and she provided me with the info. Then again, I’m sure there were some things that happened in the movie that were a precursor to the newest Avengers that I missed out on. The whole system is a great money-making tactic. It’s also the only time I’ve ever watched a TV show that does something of this nature.

Not only does the show relate to the Marvel films, but it also includes guest appearances by characters from some of those films. Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Sif (Asgardian warrior), and Peggy Carter (now the lead character in another Marvel spin-off TV series entitled “Agent Carter”) are just some of the characters that have appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in the films. I’m sure with a third season beginning in a few months there will be more characters to add to that list. Who knows, maybe there will be a point when an Avenger makes a guest appearance. With the Marvel overlap, I wouldn’t put it past the show’s creators to make it happen.

With the number of successful Marvel films released in recent years, it’s no surprise that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has done well. The Marvel fan base has grown and with new films to be released in the not so distant future I’m sure the television show will keep thriving. If you’ve seen any of the Marvel films that I mentioned over the last 7 years, I’m sure you’d appreciate Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if you don’t already. The story lines are constantly developing. There’s action. There’s a hint of mystery. There’s twists, turns, and curve balls thrown along the way. Not to mention, there’s the references and reminders that the show is part of the Marvel Universe. It really is flat-out, so cool. There’s no better way to understand it than to check it out and become a part of the world of Marvel. So what are you waiting for?