The Umbrella Academy is a very new, bizarre and interesting new superhero TV show by Netflix, and with the cancellation of their most popular ones, this one had better hold up. It does.

The first few episodes are a little bit slow, as expected, this is after the first season of hopefully, an ongoing series. In these few episodes, we are introduced to our main heroes. From number one, to the completely normal number 7, each of these characters have their own personalities, and stories, and are all interesting enough to keep you invested in the story. These characters seem to have a very biblical connection, that they were all born to a Virgin Mary of sorts, all on the same day, from all over the world. I don't know how that works with all the times frames, but who cares, its science fiction.

They are all adopted by a very strict and intimidating billionaire, who raised them to use their amazing gifts to do good. From one with super-human strength, to another who can see the dead, and one that can manipulate others to do her will, one that can throw stuff like Bullseye, and another that turns into a very monster-like-thing, and another that can teleport through time and space.

But our main heroes aren't the only main characters of the show that hold our interests, it is also the two hitmen, who are sent to kill one of them. These two played amazingly by Mary J. Blige and Cameron Britton, are very interesting characters that are also very scary and even funny at times. And another character who is entirely CGI. The effects on the chimpanzee named Pogo, was amazing, flawless even. Something you would expect from a Planet of the Apes movie.

The story, characters, visuals and amazing acting, all combine to make a very interesting new TV show. I can't really say much without spoiling everything, but it is a different take on the superhero genre, and does a good job at it, even though at times I found it hard to figure if it was taking itself seriously, or not. It felt a lot like Amazon's American Gods, where you can't tell if its goofy or just brilliant, or maybe both. It is also predictable at times, even more so towards the end, but it leaves on a very good cliffhanger.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes superheroes, but wants to see it a little differently than the big blockbusters we see in the cinema. It has everything you would want, powerful heroes of all colours and personalities, to the evil villain. And also that it is the first Netflix TV show that does shove some progressive message down your throat.

8.6/10