The Umbrella Academy Creator Defends That Controversial Ending

Spoiler alert: This post discusses the series finale of The Umbrella Academy.

And just like that, the Hargreeves family isn’t only gone; they’ve never even existed. At the very end of The Umbrella Academy’s fourth and final season, Viktor, Luther, Klaus, Diego, Allison, Five, and Lila succumbed to an existence-erasing force known as The Cleanse, ending their story on a confusingly somber note. The bold choice hasn’t sat well with the vocal fan base, but series creator Steve Blackman revealed he always had this final moment in mind.

“I knew I wanted to do that ending from probably the first year, first season,” Blackman told TheWrap after Season 4 dropped. He went on to confess that he knew it would be pretty controversial to end the show by wiping the main characters from existence.

“I love our fans and we have the most supportive fans, so I hope they’ll like it. I know not everyone will,” Blackman said. “But I think it’s the right ending for the show. They make a certain sacrifice, which I think is the right sacrifice, and in doing so really makes them superheroes.”

Blackman argued the grim ending is meant to grapple with philosophical questions about what it means to be a superhero, but that hasn’t exactly translated well to the show’s fandom. Instead, the general response on social media has been overwhelmingly negative, with viewers joking they’re pretending the fourth season doesn’t exist after giving the Hargreeves such a cruel fate.

The life-erasing finale isn’t the only reason The Umbrella Academy fans are up in arms over Season 4. Even more of the fan fury has been directed at the shocking decision to focus on an unexpected romance between Five and his sister-in-law Lila. Viewers dubbed the relationship out-of-character and bizarre, but Blackman remains confident in the connection.

“I do think that Five is absolutely in love with her and they’re much more similar than anyone would let on. It makes sense for them to be together,” he said. He went on to argue that Lila’s relationship with Five probably would have continued over her marriage to Diego if there was more of the series.

“I think she probably would have stayed with Five,” Blackman said. “She loved both men for different reasons, but I didn’t see her and Diego getting back together. Things have deteriorated.”