‘The Umbrella Academy’ Showrunner Steve Blackman Shares His Favorite Scenes From Season 2

The Umbrella Academy returns with a second season tomorrow (July 31 at 3pm!!!), and we’re pretty excited!

Picking up where Season 1 left off, the Hargreeves children find themselves in ’60s Dallas more determined than ever to save the world from ending. In the trailer, Five has to find his missing family from a three-year period, stop the world from ending, and go back to the present timeline.

Watch the trailer below:

At a virtual interview, we had the chance to speak with The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman who shared the process they went through for the new season, what’s it like releasing it during a pandemic, and more. Read the full interview below:

Did the reaction to Season One make an impact on how Season Two was gonna be?

Steve Blackman: We just want to evolve every year and do better so we looked very critically at season one and how we did things and tried to sort of up our game. We were inspired by some of the ways we did Season One and we wanted to sort of challenge ourselves to do better in Season Two.

Were there any reservations about how you were going to continue from that high from Season One?

Steve Blackman: It was a daunting task because I wanted the show to do well. I didn’t expect to do as well as it did. But I was thrilled that we brought in a whole new fan base who didn’t know about The Umbrella Academy, from the graphic novel fans. But I definitely want to make sure that the new fans and the old fans feel that we took the show to the next level. And that we definitely exceeded what we did in the first season both visually and storytelling.

How did you prepare for Season Two filming?

Steve Blackman: I think because it was the 60s, it was a lot more preparation for production. I think the actors went through the same process they normally do. For us, it was a definite challenge to find a street that we could use. We went to Dallas but we couldn’t find a street that looked like the 1960s, we ended up shooting it in Ontario because we found a street that looked more like Dallas than it looked like Dallas and that was hard for us. But the period, cars and the costumes, that was hard for us and it took longer.

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FIRST LOOK: The Second Season of The Umbrella Academy

Do you have any idea how many seasons you want to tell your story?

Steve Blackman: To be honest with you, I would like to do as many seasons as Netflix wants to do. I know that Gerard [Way] and Gabriel [Bá], who created the graphic novels, have lots of volumes in them where they want to go. 

I’d love to do four seasons. I think that’s a great number for a television show, but again, I’ll do as many as Netflix wants to. I love this show and the cast. It’s a lot of fun to do and I love our fans.

What’s it like releasing Season 2 during a pandemic?

Steve Blackman: We did all of our post-production during the pandemic. We finished shooting before the pandemic but all of our post-production editorials were done during the pandemic so we had to come up with all-new ways of recording the orchestra — one instrument at a time and editing them. I mean it really was a challenge to do both so that was the hardest part for us.

Do you have a favorite character from the show?

Steve Blackman: I love all of them a lot. I sort of love Five’s ability to time travel. I’m just a geek and I love talking about time travel and arguing about how we would be. Especially with the writers, we all have a different idea in theory of how it works. But that’s why I sort of like Five. I think it’s just a great ability.

Which scene from this season were you most excited to bring to life?

Steve Blackman: I love the Battle Dallas opening scene. I really love what we did with Allison at the sit-in — to see those people of color so brave to sit there against a crowd of racist people and how they did it with dignity. I also love all the scenes with Sissy and Vanya. I really love that love story that we’re telling this year. I think it’s sort of a really beautiful love story. I think Marin Ireland and Ellen Page beautifully did that story this year.

ALSO READ:
WATCH: Netflix Unveils ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 2 Opening Scene

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The Umbrella Academy Season 2 launches on Netflix on July 31, 2020. Stream it here.