20 Fantasy Adaptations That Could Be Bigger than Game of Thrones
By Jenn Reid
The Umbrella Academy Cover Art. Image via Darkhorse Comics
8. The Umbrella Academy
The Books: The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
The Story: My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way partnered with artist Gabriel Ba for this graphic novel fantasy series. The series is set in an alternate timeline where JFK never got shot, and mostly takes place around 1977. Women all over the world have miraculously given birth despite never having been pregnant, and the babies posses super powers. Seven of these kids are adopted by an alien disguised as an entrepreneur, and he trains them as a superhero team who will save the world.
There have been two trade paperbacks released so far, with more tentatively in development. The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite and The Umbrella Academy: Dallas each consist of six comics, and there are three separate short stories available: “Mon Dieu!” “…But the Past Ain’t Through With You.” and “Safe & Sound.”
The Adaptation: Think X-Men: First Class: period costumes, wacky alternate history shenanigans and a team of superpowered young folk ready to save the world. It would fit it great on a network like FX, which is proving it can do great by superpowered characters (Legion).
The series was optioned for a movie back in 2010, and then as a TV show for 2015. No further developments have been announced.