Why The Umbrella Academy's Green Cube Might Not Be What You Think

The Umbrella Academy's season 2 finale was chock-full of surprises, but the biggest may have come in the form of a floating box. 

When the Hargreeves siblings' returned to 2019 after an unexpected visit to 1960s Dallas, Texas, thanks to Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), they were confronted with a stark new reality. Their father, Reginald Hargreeves, had never assembled them as a team. In fact, the entire Umbrella Academy had been replaced by another set of kids in what Reginald dubbed the Sparrow Academy. Headed up by their former adopted (and dead) sibling Ben (Justin H. Min), the group consisted of seven heroes altogether, including what appeared to be a very green floating cube. 

Fans of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion likely recognized the character, which was teased as part of the comic's mysterious introduction to the Sparrow Academy. The appearance of the green cube in the show didn't offer up much more information, with the finale only giving viewers a glimpse of the Sparrow Academy member in the final moments of season 2. That's left many fans hypothesizing about what, or who, this green cube is. 

Back when the Netflix series' second season first dropped, showrunner Steven Blackman confirmed that the Sparrow Academy was comprised of completely new characters — not alternate reality versions of The Umbrella Academy. "They're not our characters," he told Inverse. "They are different people, and that's all I can really say." In a more recent Reddit AMA, Blackman revealed yet another hint pointing to the theory that the cube is not only human, but one of the 43 human babies with powers born on the same day in 1989. When asked "whats up with the unidentified green cube," Blackman succinctly responded, "His name is Christopher." 

Based on Way and Ba's comics and Blackman's responses, it feels increasingly like the green cube isn't an object, but an actual living person with powers. 

However, there are other theories that have challenged parts of this notion, including ones that maintain Blackman's statement that "Christopher" is human. It's clear that Blackman sees all the Sparrow Academy members as "people," which means that — per one Twitter user's theory — the cube could actually contain someone's soul. They argue that it could be the soul of someone who died, and with the comic confirming that at least one of the 43 children born in 1989 died, it could be part of this mysterious group of super-powered people. Yet, the soul wouldn't have be dead to be inside the cube. Instead, it could be a manifestation of one of the character's powers. 

Another fan on Reddit posited that the cube isn't one of the children, but is instead the replacement for Grace. When Diego (David Castañeda) went back in time along with the other Hargreeves, he connected with the real Grace who inspired his AI mom. In doing so, he revealed to her some of Reginald's weird plans, which tipped her off that he was up to something possibly dangerous. This may have resulted in Reginald replacing Grace with another (and stricter) form of technology. 

Then there's the theory that cube is Harlan Cooper (Justin Paul Kelly), the autistic son of a woman living in 1960s Dallas who took Vanya (Ellen Page) in after hitting her with her car. Harlan gets a sliver of Vanya's powers and while Number Seven seemingly removes it to protect Harlan, the season 2 finale reveals him floating a "Sparrow" toy, proving he's still got some of her power running through his veins. The fact that the cube also floats has led some to believe it could be this boy. 

Without any confirmation from the comics, and with fans left on a major cliffhanger, answers will have to wait until The Umbrella Academy season 3 to find out exactly who or what that green cube is.