Netflix To Stream Umbrella Academy In 2018

 

It’s taken a while, but Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s Umbrella Academy is finally getting the live action treatment via Netflix.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming service has order a ten-episode debut season of the series based on the comic book series published by Dark Horse. Comprising two-volume and a handful of short stories, Umbrella Academy followed the lives of a family of superheroes. Though estranged for many years, they came together to solve the death of their father and discover the whereabouts of a long-missing sibling. They also confronted a number of personal issues along the way.

Fargo veteran Steve Blackman will run the show for executive producers Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg of Dark Horse Entertainment. Way is also on board as a co-producer. But perhaps most interesting: Jeremy Slater wrote the pilot. Slater also developed The Exorcist into one of the freakiest and most entertaining shows on broadcast television. I can’t wait to see how he takes Umbrella Academy, itself a remarkable work, and gives life as long-form drama.
“I am thrilled that The Umbrella Academy has found a home at Netflix. I couldn’t think of a better place for the vision Gabriel Ba and myself had when creating the comic, and cannot wait for people to experience that world as a live action show,” said Way in a statement.
The news comes after years of development hell saw Umbrella Academy vanish from sight. It was initially optioned in 2010 by Universal as a film project with Mark Bomback adapting. Then, in 2015, it resurfaced as a project for Universal Cable Productions, who are still involved with the Netflix incarnation. If nothing else, it proves a good comic will have its day as a script series.
Umbrella Academy comes to Netflix in 2018.