Ellen Page Goes From X-Men To Umbrella Academy; Cast As Vanya
by Erik Amaya
It seems Ellen Page is leaving Xavier’s School behind for a very different superhero experience.
Deadline reports the former Kitty Pryde will play Vanya in Netflix forthcoming Umbrella Academy. Based on the Dark Horse comic book by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, it follows the lives of a dysfunctional family of superheroes. Though estranged for many years, they come 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. Page’s Vanya is the only member of the family lacking a super power. Described as a “meek and insecure wallflower,” she struggles to find a place in a family of super geniuses, space-farers and the like.
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: Exorcist developer Jeremy Slater wrote the pilot.
The book 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. It seems it was waiting for the streaming revolution to take its place in the TV universe.
Umbrella Academy comes to Netflix in 2018.
