Netflix's Umbrella Academy showrunner details Gerard Way's reaction to major story changes

The Umbrella Academy season 4 has finally arrived on Netflix, with fans tuning in to see how their favourite dysfunctional family’s story will end. The show is based on a series of graphic novels by Gerard Way, who is best known for fronting the rock band My Chemical Romance.

Ahead of the fourth season, Showrunner and Series Creator Steve Blackman spoke about how the show’s ending had deviated from the comics. He also discussed Gerard’s reaction to seeing changes in the storyline.

Asked how the final instalment differs from the graphic novels, Steve said: “Well, for starters, there’s no graphic novel for what we would call season four and while our series is coming to a close, Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá are actually working on their next volume, and they have a pretty good roadmap of where the story is going for many years to come.

“That said, we have deviated from their version and, in a wonderful way, they’re making changes based on what we’re doing in the TV series. So, we’re symbiotic in some ways.

He continued: “But there are major elements — like The Cleanse and The Jennifer Incident — that are entirely from Gerard and Gabriel. I’ve done my interpretation of these events in season four, but these are both things that are forthcoming in the graphic novels in slightly different ways.

“Our ending isn’t necessarily going to be his ending, and our version of The Jennifer Incident will probably be slightly different than his as well, but everything is within the world he created, we’re just on our own path this year.”

Quizzed on whether or not Gerard had any non-negotiables when it came to the plot and characters, he confirmed: “No, he’s been so kind throughout this process and was very gracious about the different paths we took.

“He said, ‘Look, I love it. Do what you want to do. Go where you want to go.’

“He and Gabriel have always been so supportive. They were probably a bit less involved this year than in previous years because of their schedules, but they still saw all the materials and gave us their blessing and their support.”

The Netflix series follows the super-powered Hargreeves siblings as they team up time and time again to try and save the world.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.