Umbrella Academy: Best Comic Characters Not In The Netflix Show

The Umbrella Academy made the jump from comic book series to successful Neflix show, but that doesn’t mean all the characters got to make live action appearances. Many characters get radically altered or even eliminated entirely during the process of adapting a creative property, and several major and minor players didn’t make the cut.

While it’s always possible that we’ll see some of these comic book characters (or at least some versions of them) here are some of the Umbrella Academy comic characters that didn’t make it into the Netflix show.

Inspector Lupo

In the original six-issue miniseries Apocalypse Suite which jumpstarted The Umbrella Academy, rebellious and arrogant “hero” Diego Hargreeves (aka “Kraken”) has a partner in Inspector Lupo, a grizzled male police officer and detective. Lupo functions as a sort of “Commissioner Gordon” to the Kraken’s “Batman” and Kraken routinely makes Batman-style appearances in Lupo’s car to the inspector’s disgust.

In the Netflix series, however, Lupo is replaced by Detective Eudora Patch, a female police officer who had a romantic relationship with Diego prior to the beginning of the series. This was likely done to better explore Diego’s capacity to love (something that would have been more difficult to reveal through his relationship with Inspector Lupo). However, Detective Patch likely won’t be returning to the series as she was killed by Cha-Cha during the events of the first season.

Abhijat

In the comics, Abhijat is the servant, bodyguard, assistant, and pilot for Sir Reginald Hargreeves (aka the Monocle). In truth, the comics don’t do much to flesh out his background, but he does appear in many scenes in the original Umbrella Academy miniseries Apocalypse Suite. He pilots an aircraft called The Minerva during the Hargreeves’ children first superpowered mission in Paris and later appears during the Monocle’s funeral several years later, which jump starts the events of the main story.

Given Abhijat’s ancillary function in the comics, the Netflix series probably just left him out since he didn’t serve any real purpose to move the plot along. Still, there’s always a possibility that he might appear in some flashback scenes as an Easter Egg if nothing else.

The Conductor

One major change the Netflix series made from the comic books was to completely eliminate the Orchestra Verdammten and its leader, the masked Conductor, from the plot. In the comics, the Conductor and the orchestra are the ones responsible for Vanya’s transformation into the White Violin. Their true mission is left somewhat ambiguous, but the Conductor does offer Vanya a place in the orchestra, which she eventually accepts. In doing so, she allows the Conductor to brainwash her, awaken her powers, and physically turn her into the White Violin.

In the Netflix series, Vanya’s transformation/seduction is much more gradual and performed by Leonard Peabody, a deranged fanboy. After becoming Vanya’s lover, Leonard manipulated her into accessing her powers and becoming the White Violin to gain revenge on The Umbrella Academy. However, his manipulation proved to be his undoing when Vanya used her newfound powers to kill him.

As The Umbrella Academy enters its second season, it appears the show will be taking the story in a unique direction. This is hinted by the fact that some of the new characters appearing in the second season – Lila (a chameleon woman), Raymond (a born leader), and Sissy (a fearless Texas mother) – do not have comic book counterparts. How their appearances will affect the plot moving forward remains unknown, but they’ll give fans plenty to speculate on as the await the second season of The Umbrella Academy.

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Michael Jung
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Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20^th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michael’s background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

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