The Umbrella Academy: Where Does Reginald Hargreeves Come From?

In just two seasons, The Umbrella Academy has left various mysteries, and many of them are related to Reginald Hargreeves, such as where exactly does he come from. The superhero genre has seen all types of stories so far, and the rise of this genre has also made way for other, lesser-known, and sometimes darker stories, as is the case of The Umbrella Academy. Created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy is a series of comic books that made the jump to streaming thanks to Netflix in February 2019, quickly becoming one of the platform’s most popular titles.

The Umbrella Academy introduced the audience to the Hargreeves, seven adopted children who along with other 36 babies around the world were born on the same day, at the same time, and to women who weren’t pregnant when the day began. After hearing of this curious event, scientist and billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could, but he only got seven. As the kids developed superpowers, he trained them and formed the team “The Umbrella Academy”, but Reginald wasn’t a good father, and the kids parted ways, reuniting years later for Reginald’s funeral and to stop the apocalypse. Reginald, then, wasn’t around through much of The Umbrella Academy season 1, so fans were excited to learn more about him in season 2 when the team traveled back to the 1960s, but they were left with even more questions.

Reginald Hargreeves planned his death at the beginning of The Umbrella Academy season 1 in an attempt to bring his children together to stop the end of the world, so viewers only got to see him briefly in flashbacks and in Klaus’ (Robert Sheehan) quick trip to the afterlife. However, a flashback in the finale of season 1 took viewers many years back to follow a young Reginald sharing an emotional moment with his dying wife, but the key in that scene is that it isn’t set on Earth. The scene then cuts to Reginald arriving in the United States, also many years ago, and buying an old umbrella manufacturer. This made way for many theories on where Reginald Hargreeves really comes from, and the mystery only grew when The Umbrella Academy season 2 confirmed he’s not a human, but an alien.

In The Umbrella Academy season 2, Reginald visited the Majestic 12 and revealed his true nature, killing everyone in the room. This only made the mystery of his origins even bigger, as it’s still unknown where exactly does he come from, and the comic books don’t provide an answer either. Although there’s not an answer to the mystery of Reginald Hargreeves’ home planet, a theory suggests he led the other survivors to the moon, where they settled in a hidden community, which explains why Reginald sent Luther (Tom Hopper) to the moon and why he got involved in the space race. It’s worth noting that the aforementioned flashback in The Umbrella Academy season 1 showed rockets leaving the planet Reginald and his wife were at, so this implies that there are other survivors from Reginald’s home planet somewhere, perhaps also on Earth, so there’s a chance this big mystery around Reginald’s origins will be solved at some point.

On the other hand, as this big question hasn’t been answered in the comics, it’s also possible it will be one of those mysteries that will never be solved, adding to the mysticism of the series. The Umbrella Academy should address Reginald’s backstory at some point so viewers can really get to know him, and as he’s still alive and well in season 3, there’s hope the question about his home planet will be addressed either in season 3 or beyond.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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