The Umbrella Academy is back in session. Elliot Page confirmed on Instagram that production on season 3 has begun, with a post from the set captioned, “Omg we’re back again,” accompanied by an umbrella emoji. The photo features an umbrella embedded with the number 3. A sparrow perched on top is a nod to the alternate reality the characters returned to at the end of season 2.
When Page came out as trans in December, Netflix congratulated the star on Twitter. “So proud of our superhero!,” the streamer’s account replied. “Can’t wait to see you return in season 3!” Though there may have been little doubt, sources also confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Page would indeed return to the character of Vanya Hargreeves following his coming out.
Whether the star’s gender identity will be directly reflected in the character or written into the script remains to be seen. The popular Netflix Original is based on the comic book series by Gerard Way, elaborate source material with its own rich mythology. But Vanya’s narrative has already offered special resonance for queer fans.
Of the seven adopted superheroes who make up the titular Umbrella Academy, Vanya’s supernatural abilities are initially overlooked and even suppressed. Once she reclaims them, though, she turns out to be the most powerful of the bunch (and triggers the apocalypse — oops!). Page told Variety of their character in the second season: “There’s a weight, to a degree, that has been taken off her shoulders [and] she is able to exist more comfortably in her body, despite not remembering anything.”
In the show’s second season, Vanya also falls in love with a woman, played by Marin Ireland. “It was so fucking nice to get to play Vanya falling in love for the first time, and her being able to open up to someone in that way,” Page told Collider. “She’s falling in love with a woman, and just knowing that representation is going out into the world, on a show that has the reach that it has —” Page said, trailing off.
“If you told me, when I was 26 years old, that I’d be out, playing a queer character, wearing clothes that you want the character to wear, I would’ve been like, ‘That’s impossible,’” he continued. Returning for the series’ third season as an out transgender star, Page continues paving the way for what’s possible.
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