New episodes of The Umbrella Academy are available on Netflix this week. The 3rd season of the superhero series follows almost 2 years later. Their biggest star from the start was Elliot Page. Page plays a character who goes by the name of Vanya Hargreeves for the first two seasons. At the end of 2020, Elliot Page came out as a trans* person — and Umbrella Academy responds to that in a soulful sequence in the second episode of Season 3.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 on Netflix: Elliot Page’s character is now called Viktor Hargreeves
The Umbrella Academy – S03 Trailer (German) HD
The authors integrate the scene in which Vanya Hargreeves becomes Viktor Hargreeves into the plot in an inconspicuous yet emotional way. Elliot Page starts out as Vanya Hargreeves, a telekinetically gifted heroine. The moment of transition occurs after the leap in time from the 1960s to the present. Vanya recaps the past decades with the help of a history book.
There she is also reminded of her great love from Season 2, Sissy. She thinks of a meaningful sentence Sissy said to her: “You don’t even realize you’ve been put in a box before someone comes and takes you out”
These eloquent words are still hanging in the air as Vanya stands in front of a men’s salon and looks at men’s hairstyles. In the next scene, Viktor introduces himself to the Hargreeves family with his new name and new look. When asked who Viktor is, Viktor replies:
I am Victor I always have been. Do any of you have a problem with this? Why Elliot Page’s first Viktor Hargreeves turned out so well
Of course not. Viktor formulates his feelings in more detail in a later scene. In an intimate conversation he says to Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman):
You couldn’t know because I didn’t really know either. When I was with Sissy she opened something in me. She showed me that I can never stop to hide who I really am. And when I lost her, I realized I can’t live in a box anymore. I won’t anymore.
The sequence ends with another deeply emotional moment in which Viktor is alone again. He sees himself reflected in a window, remembers how he always hated mirrors and says: “Me. Just me.”
It’s the first time a major Netflix series has seen a star come out in the development of his character reflects. And obviously, a lot of thought has gone into the scene not to make it a sensational event while still doing justice to its importance to the trans community. Which is absolutely successful.
Series Podcast: Is Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon doomed?
Game of Thrones is one of the most successful series ever, but the finale was controversial. What does the new GOT series House of the Dragon have to learn from the original and can this series succeed at all?
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In the new episode of the Moviepilot podcast, we discuss this question. We explain when the new GOT offshoot is playing, what to think of the cast around Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith and ask ourselves what House of the Dragon absolutely needs to learn from Game of Thrones (and what not).