Shows To Watch If You Love The Umbrella Academy (original) (raw)
Published Aug 14, 2024, 8:10 PM EDT
Alexander Vance is a movie and TV staff writer for CBR. He is a Flagler College graduate with a bachelor's degree in Media Studies and a minor in Film Studies. He currently resides in Florida where he does freelance writing for CBR. He has always been fascinated by movies and television. It makes him happy when he gets the opportunity to talk about those topics with his friends and family. In his free time, he loves to relax and watch movies - whether in the theater or at home - as well as TV shows. He is a fan of several genres, but science fiction and action are his favorites. At Flagler College, he gained a significant interest in writing and an idea of where to go next in his post-college career.
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The Umbrella Academy is one of Netflix's most notably successful shows and has garnered an impressively large fanbase. Based on a comic book series, The Umbrella Academy revolves around a group of super-powered siblings teaming up to save the world from multiple apocalyptic events. Every character has a unique personality and set of powers, providing plenty of dysfunctional and chaotic banter with everyone. The Umbrella Academy is also unafraid to get bizarre with its story elements.
While the show's final season has left fans divided over its conclusion, it was still bittersweet to see the Hargreeves siblings go on one final mission to prevent the end of the world. Thankfully, people who loved The Umbrella Academy's mix of super-powered people, time travel elements, mismatched team dynamics, and weird plots will find luck with other shows just like it. From Doom Patrol to Loki, these series will satisfy people who are already missing The Umbrella Academy.
10 Misfits is Another Show Featuring Superpowers And Robert Sheehan
- IMDB Rating: 8.2
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
- Watch on Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, and Freevee
- 5 seasons
Before Robert Sheehan played the fan-favorite character Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy, he was in another show about a mismatched group of people with special abilities. Misfits follows five young juveniles who have no connection to each other and get stuck working in community service. When an electrical storm hits their town, the effects leave them with superpowers, including mind-reading, invisibility, and time travel.
At first glance, Sheehan's character, Nathan, doesn't feel affected by the storm until he discovers his power is immortality. Misfits is an intriguing exploration of what would happen if people who committed crimes were granted superpowers. The question is whether they use their new powers to become better people or continue going down dark paths. Along the way, new friendships and romances will test the group in many ways. Misfits ran for five seasons, but fans can agree the first couple, which focuses mainly on Nathan and his group, were better than the later ones.
Release Date
2009 - 2013-00-00
Showrunner
Howard Overman
Directors
Howard Overman, Tom Green, Jonathan van Tulleken, Tom Harper, Wayne Yip
Writers
Howard Overman, Jon Brown, Mike O'Leary
Franchise(s)
Misfits
A group of young offenders doing community service gets struck by lightning during a storm and start to develop superpowers.
9 The Magicians Focus on a Team of Gifted Magic Users
The main cast of The Magicians
- IMDB Rating: 7.6
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
- Watch on Netflix
- 5 seasons
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Syfy's The Magicians centers on protagonist Quentin Coldwater, who enrolls at a secret and mythical school called Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy. Once accepted, Quentin and other students at the university learn that the magical world they read about as children is real, and it has become a danger to humanity. Together, Quentin and his new friends use their new magical abilities to save the world.
Anyone who loves the fantasy genre will find a lot to love about The Magicians, especially when it dives deep into the worldbuilding and the lore behind the characters' magical powers. Like The Umbrella Academy, which frequently explains the Hargreeves siblings' past, The Magicians showcases Brakebills University's unconventional methods of teaching students about their abilities. The characters grow as the series progresses, learning more about tragic loss and required responsibilities. The Magicians also occasionally leans into weirdness thanks to the inclusion of some absurd creatures and graphic violence.
Release Date
2015 - 2020-00-00
Network
SyFy
Showrunner
Sera Gamble
Directors
Chris Fisher, James L. Conway, Joshua Butler, John Scott, Carol Banker, Scott Smith, Guy Norman Bee, Rebecca Johnson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Meera Menon, amanda tapping, Bill Eagles, Jan Eliasberg, Kate Woods, Shannon Kohli
Writers
John McNamara, Henry Alonso Myers, David Reed, Noga Landau, Christina Strain, Leah Fong, Alex Raiman, Elle Lipson, David Reed
Cast
Jason Ralph
Quentin Coldwater
Olivia Taylor Dudley
Alice Quinn
8 The Gifted Imagines If Mutants Became Fugitives
- IMDB Rating: 7.2
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
- Watch on Hulu and Disney+
- 2 seasons
The X-Men franchise shares plenty of similarities with The Umbrella Academy as they both revolve around gifted individuals at a secret school. However, one of the best X-Men projects that doesn't get talked about enough is The Gifted, which focuses on lesser-known mutant characters like Polaris, Blink, Thunderbird, and Eclipse. When the Strucker family goes on the run after their children's mutant powers are revealed, they team up with an underground mutant group to survive and escape government forces.
While definitely darker in tone than The Umbrella Academy, The Gifted puts the characters' superpowers on full display in each episode. The show also includes thrilling action, strong pacing, stellar special effects, and a fascinating ensemble of mutant and human characters. The X-Men franchise has always provided heavy insight into how divisive people are about allowing mutants into society, and The Gifted is no exception. Plus, both The Umbrella Academy and The Gifted feature characters that have super strength, teleportation, and powerful force abilities.
Release Date
2017 - 2019-00-00
Network
FOX
Showrunner
Matt Nix
Directors
Scott Peters, Stephen Surjik, Robert Duncan McNeill
Writers
Matt Nix, Brad Marques, Carly Soteras, Marta Gene Camps, Jim Garvey
7 Supacell is Another Popular Netflix Superhero Show
- IMDB Rating: 7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
- Watch on Netflix
- 1 season
Superhero shows on Netflix typically find success, with Supacell being a recent and ingenious example. In 2024, The Umbrella Academy released its final season on Netflix, and in the same year, Supacell debuted for subscribers too. Set in present-day London, Supacell focuses on five normal people with day-to-day lives, including a delivery driver, a nurse, a drug dealer, a struggling father, and a gang member. They each discover they have superhuman abilities and use their powers to impact their daily lives.
Aside from both being about super-powered people, Supacell and The Umbrella Academy succeed when they let each character go on their own personal journeys. Another comparison is that Supacell's Michael and The Umbrella Academy's Five have time-traveling abilities, and must get the other characters together to stop a catastrophic event. Even though it currently has a single season, Supacell won viewers over with its character development and the relatable struggles each person has to deal with. In addition, Supacell has incredible and original ideas for the superhero genre, proving that not everything needs to come from comic books.
6 X-Men '97 Made The Mutant Team Epic Again
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- IMDB Rating: 8.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
- Watch on Disney+
- 1 season
As mentioned, X-Men and The Umbrella Academy are quite similar, since they both revolve around gifted people at a hidden school. Fans who grew up watching the original X-Men animated series were ecstatic to hear that it would receive a revival on Disney+ called X-Men '97. Continuing after the events of the original series, X-Men '97 follows the titular team of heroes, which include Wolverine, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, and others, as they fight to protect the world despite it fearing and hating them.
Full of stunning animation, well-written character growth, and magnificent storylines pulled from the comics, X-Men '97 is the superhero show many fans couldn't get enough of. Much like The Umbrella Academy, the heroes in X-Men '97 have fantastic traits, character journeys, and superpowers, and they come together to stop an event that could mean the end of the world. The X-Mencan be torn about what strategy is best when preventing a cataclysmic event, which can lead to some division among the team. The Hargreeves siblings and the X-Men can be dysfunctional, but it helps drive the conflicts of these engaging shows.
Release Date
March 20, 2024
Network
Disney+
Directors
Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley
Writers
Charlie Feldman, Anthony Sellitti, Beau DeMayo, JB Ballard
Franchise(s)
X-Men '97 is a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992).
Main Genre
Seasons
2
Characters By
Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
Distributor
Disney+
Main Characters
Cyclops, Mystique, Rogue, Beast, Magneto, Gambit, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Professor Xavier, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jubilee
Producer
Charley Feldman
Arrowverse Poster for Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 Pilot
- IMDB Rating: 6.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
- Watch on Netflix
- 7 seasons
Related
10 Weirdest Moments in Legends of Tomorrow, Ranked
DC's Legends of Tomorrow may have started like other shows in the Arrowverse, but it quickly evolved into one of the weirdest shows on television.
Before The Umbrella Academy blended weirdness, distinctive superheroes, and tons of time travel, DC's Legends of Tomorrow showed how all three elements can be masterfully combined. An entry in the CW's Arrowverse, the show centers on multiple pre-existing characters from Arrow and The Flash as they get recruited by a time-traveler named Rip Hunter to save the future and, soon, fix anachronisms in the past. DC's Legends of Tomorrow started as a straightforward time travel story in Season 1 but eventually found its footing shortly after.
From Season 2 onward, DC's Legends of Tomorrow embraced its bizarre nature and turned the show into a more fun series that felt like nothing superhero fans had seen. The Legends facing zombies in the Civil War and using laser swords in Medieval times was the start of how outlandish the show would get. Other weird moments in the series include a fight between a stuffed animal and a demon, Gorilla Grodd getting stuck in the Vietnam War, a timeline consisting of puppets, and the team getting transported into parodies of old TV shows. The Umbrella Academy is a peculiar show that has traveled through time occasionally. Yet, DC's Legends of Tomorrow did it plentifully thanks to providing epic action and a lot more notable points in history.
Release Date
2016 - 2022-00-00
Network
Showrunner
Phil Klemmer
Directors
David Geddes, Dermott Downs, Alexandra La Roche, Gregory Smith, Ben Hernandez Bray, Glen Winter, Mairzee Almas, April Mullen, Nico Sachse, Ralph Hemecker, Andrew Kasch, Caity Lotz, Antonio Negret, Christopher Tammaro, Dean Choe, Rachel Talalay, Sudz Sutherland, Viet Nguyen, Alice Troughton, Kevin Tancharoen, Jes Macallan, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Eric Dean Seaton, Kristin Windell
Writers
Tyron Carter, Sarah Nicole Jones, Jackie Canino
Franchise(s)
Cast
Boyd Ferguson
Lieutenant Cadwalader
Cameron Bancroft
Mr. Blake
An action-packed superhero series that follows a ragtag team of heroes and villains assembled by time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter to prevent an apocalyptic future. The group, known as the Legends, includes characters such as Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, and Mick Rory, each bringing unique abilities and complex backgrounds. As they journey through different historical periods, the Legends must battle formidable foes and correct temporal anomalies to protect the timeline. The series blends humor, drama, and thrilling action sequences, exploring themes of redemption, teamwork, and the consequences of time travel.
Creator(s)
Main Genre
Action
Seasons
7
Story By
Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, and Sarah Schechter
Streaming Service(s)
4 Stranger Things is The Biggest Show on Netflix
- IMDB Rating: 8.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
- Watch on Netflix
- 4 seasons
The Umbrella Academy became an immediate success when it debuted on Netflix. The same can be said about Stranger Things, which has become one of the biggest shows currently on television. The wildly successful Netflix series follows residents of a 1980s Indiana town discovering supernatural monsters and a horrific parallel universe known as the Upside Down. Stranger Things and The Umbrella Academy share the same streaming service, but there are some other notable comparisons when analyzed further.
For example, Stranger Things' most famous character is Eleven, who has telekinetic powers like The Umbrella Academy's Viktor Hargreeves. Stranger Things examines Eleven's past of being a science experiment and features plotlines that include other kids with superpowers. Along with being a supernatural show that incorporates people with abilities, Stranger Things has its characters uncovering government conspiracies, which The Umbrella Academy also occasionally does. In addition, the many monsters in Stranger Things are quite grotesque. When watching The Umbrella Academy's final season, the finale presents a monstrous entity that could easily be a part of the Upside Down.
Release Date
2016 - 2025-00-00
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Cast
Millie Bobby Brown
Jane 'Eleven' Hopper
Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.
3 The Boys is an Unconventional And Bloody Superhero Show
- IMDB Rating: 8.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
- Watch on Prime Video
- 4 seasons
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In 2019, television received two popular and well-received adaptations of comic books: The Umbrella Academy and The Boys. While the former show would feature more R-rated violence and profanity in its later seasons, the latter let the audience know that those elements would be a crucial part of its identity. The Boys imagine if superheroes who typically save the day are actually terrible people who frequently abuse their powers. A powerless group called the Boys decides to take a stand and expose the corrupt heroes when no one else will.
Bloody, satirical, and always ready to take risks, The Boys proved to be a great solution to supposed superhero fatigue. The show manages to be a significant improvement over the comic books, which were already over-the-top to begin with. Like The Umbrella Academy, The Boys lets its outrageous side out by presenting moments that no other TV show would dare incorporate. From exploding heads to babies with laser eyes to uncomfortable antics performed by characters like Homelander and The Deep, every episode of The Boys has something bonkers-crazy in store. If fans of The Umbrella Academy want another show with strange superheroes, The Boys is a noteworthy recommendation.
Release Date
2019 - 2026-00-00
Showrunner
Eric Kripke
Directors
Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke
Writers
Eric Kripke
Franchise(s)
Cast
Jack Quaid
Hugh Hughie Campbell-
The Boys: In a world where superheroes are commercialized and often corrupt, a vigilante group known as "The Boys" embarks on a mission to expose the truth and take down the superpowered beings who abuse their power. The series delves into themes of power, corruption, and accountability, offering a gritty and unflinching look at the price of heroism.
Main Genre
Action
Seasons
5
2 Loki Has Characters Attempting to Save All of Time
- IMDB Rating: 8.2
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
- Watch on Disney+
- 2 seasons
Since two main factors that make up The Umbrella Academy are super-powered characters and time travel, Loki is a fantastic show to watch next. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Loki centers on the titular God of Mischief as his escape from captivity causes him to cross paths with the Time Variance Authority, an organization devoted to protecting the Sacred Timeline. With new allies, including a female variant of himself, Loki learns more about the TVA's secrets and sets off on a journey to save the timeline from being destroyed.
Though only two seasons long, Loki has the perfect length to showcase a redemption arc for the former Marvel villain, making it one of the better MCU projects in recent memory. Loki and his friends travel through time throughout the series, as does Five of The Umbrella Academy, who is involved in a time organization known as The Commission. In addition to becoming unorthodox at various points, both shows have multiple discussions about the ramifications of time travel, since the characters' decisions could have a consequential impact on the future. Lastly, without spoiling too much, both shows include the theme of sacrifice and the necessary actions taken to make sure the timeline remains safe.
Release Date
2021 - 2022
Network
Disney+
Showrunner
Michael Waldron
Directors
Kate Herron
Writers
Bisha K. Ali, Michael Waldron
Franchise(s)
Cast
Tom Hiddleston
Loki Laufeyson
Tara Strong
Miss Minutes (voice)
The mercurial villain Loki resumes his role as the God of Mischief in a new series that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”
The extended Doom Patrol team head into battle in Doom Patrol
- IMDB Rating: 7.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
- Watch on MAX
- 4 seasons
Both The Umbrella Academy and Doom Patrol came out close to one another in 2019. However, the former show found a noteworthy fanbase, while Doom Patrol fell under the radar and became an underrated favorite. Based on the DC comic books, Doom Patrol follows a team of outcasts who each have suffered from terrible accidents. The team consists of Robot Man, Elasti-Woman, Negative Man, Crazy Jane, and Cyborg. When their leader, The Chief, disappears, the Doom Patrol must step out of the shadows and learn how to become heroes while supporting one another.
There are several comparisons to The Umbrella Academy and Doom Patrol, as they are both about a team of super-powered individuals at a secret establishment who must band together when their leader is absent. The characters in both series must learn to overcome their differences when the world is in danger of an apocalyptic event. In addition, both shows are more than willing to let loose with their weirdness. While fans of The Umbrella Academy know how outlandish the plot can get, they will be in for a treat when watching Doom Patrol. Between a donkey becoming a portal, a kaiju fight between a rat and a cockroach, sentient butts, and a wacky antagonist called Mr. Nobody, Doom Patrol has no shortage of strange ideas. With The Umbrella Academy now finished, Doom Patrol is an easy suggestion to watch next.
Release Date
2019 - 2023-00-00
Showrunner
Directors
Chris Manley, Kristin Windell, Dermott Downs, Harry Jierjian, Rebecca Rodriguez, Omar Madha, Glen Winter
Writers
Arnold Drake
Franchise(s)
DC Universe
The adventures of an idealistic mad scientist and his field team of superpowered outcasts.
Seasons
4
Streaming Service(s)