The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman finally reveals who the Ben was on the train in the season three finale. The series will be returning for season four, and it will also be its last. Thankfully, viewers will be getting some answers to the show’s biggest questions.
In an interview with Netflix Tudum, Blackman gave an answer as to which version of Ben (Justin H. Min) this was who last seen riding a train and reading a book.
“Let’s be clear — that is Sparrow Ben. The question you should really be asking yourself is what the fuck is he doing on a Korean subway train reading a book about pottery? Odd, right? Of course, it is! This is the Umbrella Academy. As every good Umbrella fan knows, no moment in the show exists in isolation. Everything we see has meaning. And this moment is no exception. Ben has a reason to be there… but you’ll have to wait until season four to understand why.”
The Hargreeves in season three of The Umbrella Academy found themselves in a different timeline where Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) had a new team of misfit superheroes called the Sparrow Academy. These characters worked like a well-oiled machine and had a lot of hate for the Umbrella Academy, so much so that their first meeting ended in a fight between all of them.
To their surprise, the Sparrow Academy had a version of Ben Hargreeves, their brother who died during battle in their original timeline. While Klaus (Robert Sheehan) could see his dead brother because of his ability to communicate with spirits, Ben couldn’t interact with the others on a physical level. Throughout season three, Klaus attempts to win this new Ben over to their side so they can have a second chance with him, and per the season three ending that could still be on the table.
Although The Umbrella Academy is coming to an end, this won’t be the end of the creative relationship between Blackman and Netflix. He will be developing two exciting new series, the space thriller Orbital and the video game adaption Horizon Zero Dawn.
Blackman admits that these shows are all very different from one another, but he has high hopes that his two new series will do well. “If these series gain the success of The Umbrella Academy,” said Blackman, “I’ll be very happy. But we hope to push the envelope even more, especially when it comes to production where we’ll be using the newest technologies available to bring these projects to screen. It’s an enormous challenge but one that I’m truly excited about.”
The Umbrella Academy is available to stream on Netflix.