The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Teasers Could Mean More Than You Think

Netflix has unveiled colorful new key art for The Umbrella Academy season 2, and the social media rollout has fans convinced it has a hidden meaning. 

Both the streamer and show's creative team were pretty tight-lipped about plans for the series highly anticipated sophomore run until mid-May. That's when the show's stars announced the premiere date in a rather fitting recorded musical performance, followed by an eight-second-long teaser revealing that the Hargreeves "time travel composites" were on their way. And just like a message from the Commission, Netflix dropped the first official look at Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Five (Aidan Gallagher), Ben (Justin Min), and Vanya (Ellen Page) post-time jump on the show's social media accounts.  

Not only do the posters show off the cast's new wardrobe, but they also offer hints at what fans might be able to expect out of the seven siblings when season 2 debuts on July 31. Most of the characters, minus Ben and Five, appear to be wearing clothing quite different than what we saw them in during season 1. But just like everything else Umbrella Academy-related, the images are as flashy as they are distracting. There's a lot to look at, which might take your eyes off the most exciting part of the key art reveal: the order in which each character poster was shared on the Umbrella Academy's social accounts. 

Fans of Netflix's adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's comics series were quick to notice that on both Instagram and Twitter, the character posters weren't released in order of the numbers Sir Reginald (Colm Feore) assigned them. That's convinced some that Netflix has hidden a message about the second season in plain sight.  

Across The Umbrella Academy's social accounts, Number 6 (Ben) was uploaded first, followed by Number 4 (Klaus), Number 3 (Allison), Number 1 (Luther), Number 2 (Diego), Number 7 (Vanya), and Number Five. Despite having little to go on, fans wasted zero time trying to decipher the order in which the posters were released.

Some have pointed to the show's time travel element and old key art, with Twitter user @sqrlb8 linking a season 1 promotional photo to the new posters. In a tweet, they argue Ben was merely invisible next to Klaus in the old group shot, before counting the characters in reverse order, starting with Diego. By their calculation, the 6-4-3-1-2-7-5 sequence is merely a reverse image of the season 1 picture, but the order the fan goes in is debatable. There's also the existence of the individual character posters for season 1 — meaning if Netflix was going to make a time travel parallel, it makes more sense to do it with the single character posters serving as mirror images. 

In a more shocking fan theory, Twitter user @wandasshuri speculated that the sequence could allude to the order in which the Hargreeves siblings' literally or metaphorically die on season 2. They also based their guess on Ben's poster being first, with Klaus coming next due to his powers, and Allison third in light of her throat getting slit by Vanya last season. The fan noted that Luther might be next due to something serum-related; and with Vanya being the most powerful of the bunch, she's the most likely to live beyond only Five, who can time travel and undo his death. While season 1 proved death does come for Umbrella Academy characters, this fan couldn't account for Diego's place in the sequence, not to mention there has been little serious speculation about upcoming character deaths.

Other fans have taken more direct approaches to guessing what the order could mean. On Reddit, u/lastseason shared how another fan took a stab at trying "assign" each number to a corresponding value related to the season 2 premiere. "Someone on twitter posted a tweet saying: 64 days until the new season, 31 — is the day in July it comes out, 2 — is which season it is," they wrote. "7 — July is the 7th month of the year, 5 — they theorized that we might get an actual trailer in 5 days." As the creditor noted, it's pure speculation, but there does seem to be a more logical correlation to this theory. 

No matter how convincing any of the theories are, there are still some Umbrella Academy fans who think the ordering shouldn't be taken all that seriously. One person even suggests its an inside joke for fans of the comics. "Y'all don't even worry about the weird order, comic fans know," Twitter user @howlingblaster wrote, also sharing a panel of the comic. The image features a list of numbers about the comic itself — noting that there are seven Umbrella Academy members and five more chapters in The Apocalypse Suite (totaling 132 pages) before ending on the line, "There is no connection between these numbers." 

Dark Horse Comics (via Twitter)

While it's tripped up several fans, it's also got one of the show's stars scratching his head. In reply to the official Umbrella Academy Twitter account, Justin Min, who plays Ben, posted, "[Tr]ying to understand why you posted in this order." In response, the account merely offered up the shrug emoji. 

It may not be clear yet what the poster release order means, but there's still plenty revealed within the posters. 

If you wanted to get a good look at your favorite Hargreeves, you're out of luck. In each piece of key art, the characters' faces are obscured by a black umbrella. The rest of their "looks," however, offer big hints about where and when the Hargreeves siblings may have popped up after their season 1 finale time jump. 

Fans on Twitter and Reddit have noted their clothing has a distinct '60s or '70s aesthetic. Looking closely at the clothing cut, fabric, and trimmings — along with the vibrant patterns and color palette — it all seemingly implies a more '60s-era look. Those familiar with hair trends of the decade would recognize the longer length of Diego and Klaus' 'dos as part of the politically-driven male hairstyle trend of that time. Allison's straighter hot-comb style was also still popular even as the natural hair movement took off. 

Then there's Ben, who still appears to be wearing the all-black afterlife ensemble we saw him in during season 1, which means he's probably not back from the dead. But even more interesting is Five's look, which also doesn't appear to have changed much ... except for the noticeable blood splatter across his face. That, along with a setting change teased by Umbrella Academy composer Jeff Russo, is perhaps the biggest clue as to how closely the series may be sticking to the Dark Horse comics. Fans who have read the second six-issue series, subtitled Dallas, know that the Hargreeves find themselves amid a significant and bloody moment in the 1960s that altered American history forever. 

The message behind the critical art sequence might not yet be revealed, but the posters offer fans quite a bit to chew on before a season 2 trailer drops.

The Umbrella Academy season 2 will hit Netflix on July 31.